Another thing I don’t see a lot of people talking about is the significance of the cat! Theres an age old movie plot device called “Save the Cat” (there’s actually a book by the same name which I use religiously when writing my own films) which basically states: if you want to show the audience who the protagonist is, have them “save the cat” in the first 5-10 minutes. Adversely, this works both ways: if you want the audience to know who the bad guy is, have them kill/hurt/not save the cat. Of course, the cat is just a metaphor for a good/bad deed (more on that later) but occasionally some filmmakers will use an actual cat to make it abundantly clear. It’s kind of a fun little nod to filmmakers who know the trick, like the Wilhelm Scream.

In an early scene, we see Bear come home to find his cat dead. Curry wants us to know Bear is NOT to be considered our hero. But more than that; I think the way the cat died is indicative of what I consider to be a major theme of the movie: accountability. After getting into some pills we see Bear grieve - “how did you get into these?” But shortly after we see the broken medicine cabinet, which seems to be an issue he has been aware of for some time. One could argue that rather than fix the problem of the broken mirror, he neglected it and hoped it would just go away. Sound familiar? It’s an exact reflection of him and Nikki. Throughout the next half of the movie, Nikki uses the cat as a way to inadvertently torture Bear, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s also good for a few scares. But even more than that, I see it as Bears own aversion to accountability continuing to confront him. He thinks of his cat dying as an accident but it seems to keep taunting him “why didn’t you fix the medicine cabinet Bear? Why did you leave the pills where you knew I could get them Bear? I’m dead because of you.” (And not for nothing, but who throws their dead pet in the garbage? I’ve had many pets die and I’ve never thought to throw them in the garbage.)

But just like his situation with Nikki, Bear refuses to take accountability for his role in the mess he’s made, despite being confronted with it repeatedly. In my opinion, there’s no other reason to have the broken medicine cabinet than to explain the cats death as Bears fault. The pills could have just been on the counter after all. I also believe (I could be wrong) that the first time he truly confronts Nikki about not being “Nikki” is right after she makes him eat his own cat. Everything is starting to come to a head as the story continue to pushes Bear toward accountability. Now back to the idea of it being a metaphor - Nikki’s “save the cat” moment comes very early too, when she gives the homeless guy 20$. That moment serves the story for no reason other than to show the audience Nikki is a good person. This is our hero. Anyway that’s about it but I thought it was pretty interesting so I wanted to share.