Orlando Bloom takes a hit in a physically and psychologically toxic sports drama

The Cat

is a difficult film. From the opening scene, which sees the boxer (Orlando Bloom) in a brutal boxing match, the film is already layered with intensity. He loses the fight after a devastating cut to his eye and director Sean Ellis fast-forwards to ten years later. With that one scene setting the stage, it was only a matter of time before Boxer’s trauma would come around, gripping The Cat So hard without easing up. The overreliance on Boxer’s trauma – aided by multiple flashbacks to his childhood and relationship with his mother (Clare Dunne) – was taxing.

Written by Justin Bull from a story by Mark Lane, it’s a gut-wrenching look at a destructive boxer who can’t let go of his shot in the ring one last time, even if it means pushing himself to the edge. The film focuses on the boxer’s psychological and physical struggle to get to 154 pounds, a struggle just a week before his match in Las Vegas. With his tough but patient wife/coach Caitlin (Caitriona Balfe), and new coach Boz (John Turturro), The Cat Is not your average sports drama and, despite some of its low points, packs a few good punches.

The Cat’s biggest strength is its focus on the Boxer’s destructive nature

The performances of the cast are top notch, raising the sense of destruction

The Cat is not about winning, and Ellis smartly does not show Boxer’s match at the end, instead focusing on the hurt Boxer has caused. The story is the opposite of the much-loved sports drama that is fixated on the athlete’s journey to win after a big comeback early on. When Caitlin, knowing how stubborn and emotionally withholding her partner can be, asks Boxer why he’s so willing to make weight, he says it’s a hunger he can’t shake. What he also cannot shake off is his traumatic past; It weighs on him like heavy metal that won’t bend.

Bull’s script even shows how abusive and vicious behavior of a hard-to-please coach like Boz is not something to be praised. Every time Turturro’s character lays into Boxer – calling him weak and putting him through one grueling exercise after another (sometimes with the help of drug use) – I winced. Boxer’s willingness to do anything, including the act that gives the film its title, is not applauded by Ellis’ directorial choices. We’re meant to want to internally yell at Boxer to stop the torturous cycle he’s going through with Buzz.

Caitlin is the voice of reason, and her treatment by Boz is nothing short of cruel and disrespectful. They are opposites, too, and The Cat Underlines like support and knowing when to stop are good things. We are often taught that quitters are losers, a word Boz throws several times at Boxer, and the film highlights how unhealthy that is. We should know when to quit and when to stop pushing our bodies beyond what they can handle. This is a lesson that Boxer learns the hard way, as he is fueled by a burning desire to prove himself beyond discernible physical and mental boundaries.

when The Cat Is focused on his downward spiral, the drama is effective. Every decision he makes is another step-down, and the physical pressure he allows Boz to put him through is often horrifying to watch. Bloom’s role is physically driven, and he puts in a lot of effort to showcase the physical exhaustion he feels and the cycle of trauma he is trapped in mentally.

Turturro plays Boz with a ferocity that effectively conveys his no-nonsense nature. He is driven by winning the same way Boxer is, although he is much more openly aggressive and ruthless in the way he handles his clients. Balfe is fierce as Caitlin. She is simultaneously supportive and a fighter. Her verbal spats with Boz are a treat, and she’s honestly the character that best balances strength and emotional maturity.

The main point of the cut is undermined by the amount of trauma

Although the point of the film is excellent, The Cat Has a little too much trauma. It’s like the writers wanted to throw everything at Boxer and see if he could survive it, but there’s a lot. There are way too many flashbacks. After a while, their only goal is to pile onto Boxer, as if an abusive mother wasn’t enough. There’s also a subplot involving Lupe (Mohammed Mansaray), another of Buzz’s clients, that gets really dark. I’m not sure if his conclusion was part of Boxer’s hallucination or not, but I guess that’s the point.

The film is ultimately filled with so much pain that even I felt like caving under its pressure. And while some of the directorial choices and cinematography were nothing to write home about, I liked what The Cat Is trying to say and, for much of it, the way it did it. The subversion of what we’ve come to expect from a sports drama is great, and the ending is powerful. His redundant flashbacks and need to keep adding to Boxer’s lost backstory are unnecessary. He is a sympathetic and frustrating character regardless.

The Cat Had its premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is 99 minutes long and not yet rated.