It's late 19th century London. Oddball Louis Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an illustrator who draws animals but never people. He's the head of the family after the death of his father. It's a house full of women, his five sisters and his mother. With his flightiness, his sister Caroline Wain (Andrea Riseborough) has taken charge of the family who is always struggling for money. His mentor newspaper owner Sir William Ingram (Toby Jones) hires him and sets him to illustrate cats for a Christmas special. He falls for his sisters' governess Emily Richardson-Wain (Claire Foy) but their class difference causes trouble.
There is a wonderful sadness to this film. It's beautiful. It's tragic. It's uplifting. It reminds me of the first minutes of Up and also it reminds me of Cumberbatch's performance in The Imitation Game. It has humor and it has emotions. My only suggestion is incorporating his cat visions more, especially his cat drawings. The audience would be drawn into his surreal hallucinations. I like the cat people that he sees. I would like more his nightmares. I get the fear of diving too deeply into his madness. The movie is going for more a sense of whimsy which is a reasonable choice. I just wonder if a show of his madness would be more cinematic.
There is a wonderful sadness to this film. It's beautiful. It's tragic. It's uplifting. It reminds me of the first minutes of Up and also it reminds me of Cumberbatch's performance in The Imitation Game. It has humor and it has emotions. My only suggestion is incorporating his cat visions more, especially his cat drawings. The audience would be drawn into his surreal hallucinations. I like the cat people that he sees. I would like more his nightmares. I get the fear of diving too deeply into his madness. The movie is going for more a sense of whimsy which is a reasonable choice. I just wonder if a show of his madness would be more cinematic.