Short of the Week
catnip1

Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?

Catnip is all the rage with today’s modern feline, but do we really understand it? Once and for all the facts about this controversial substance are frankly discussed, in the long-lost drug educational film that never-was, “Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?”. A Sundance 2013 short film.

A pitch-perfect spoof of alarmist school educational films, this work by Jason Willis purports to expose the dangers of rampant catnip use by at-risk felines. All it really exposes however is what a talented creator Jason Willis is.

With its retro film-styling and talking head interviews, the film passes the visual test, for the dusty 16mm reels of the era, but it is writing which makes or breaks these works, and I’m pleased to say that the writing is stellar. Quite an oddball selection of Sundance’s, including this in their 2013 short film program, but a welcome one nonetheless.

This review is part of our Sundance 2013 playlist.

 

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By
Sondhi approaches films from the perspective of an uber-fan, knowledgeable film academic, and occasional filmmaker. His tendency to over-think his film criticisms is due to a background in Philosophy, but he is putting useless intellectualizing aside for this site.