Film Review: ‘The Cat and the Moon’

“The Cat and the Moon” is the sort of first-feature project likely to make your average aspiring young filmmaker roll their eyes in exasperation. A showbiz professional since age 6, child of an actor and a jazz pianist, approaching big-screen stardom in recent hits “Hereditary” and “Jumanji,” actor/writer/musiciannaturally steps into the director’s chair at age 21 with resources few wannabes will ever access.

Wolff’s screenplay starts with deceptive simplicity as his protagonist Nick emerges from an airport cab on the Manhattan doorstep of Cal , with whom he’ll be staying for a few weeks. It takes us a while to figure out this slightly awkward arrangement is happening because Nick’s mother has entered rehab back home in Detroit. Cal is a longtime friend of both parents, and was a jazz-world colleague of the late father.

It’s an exhilarating escape from what we glean hasn’t been a particularly easy road for Nick so far. Accustomed to defensively keeping his own emotions in check, he doesn’t let it spill until late in the going here that he never really had friends before, period. The icing on the cake is a strong mutual attraction toward Seamus’ girlfriend Eliza , the guilt over which is somewhat alleviated by the knowledge that Seamus cheats on her seemingly every time he gets high.

But to its credit, “The Cat and the Moon” is not at all a navel-gazing exercise in which subsidiary characters simply orbit around the protagonist’s sun. Using actors who have mostly been onscreen since childhood, Wolff draws credibly immature, likable, non-stereotypical character turns from the aforementioned cast, as well as Giullian Gioiello,and Camrus Johnson as other key members in a teen circle.

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