‘Catfight’ Revolutionizes the Art of a Powerful Brawl

Pricilla Kumar

Sandra Oh and Anne Heche put up one fight of a performance in screenwriter and director Onur Tukel’s derision infused film, “Catfight.” The film originally premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and landed a distribution deal with Dark Sky Films. The comedy-drama also stars Alicia Silverstone, Dylan Baker, Tituss Burgess, Myra Lucretia Taylor and Ariel Kavoussi.

The film opens on a pretentious housewife, Veronica (Oh), whose ritzy husband works for a company that reaps rewards from the latest war in the Middle East. The couple battle out opposing viewpoints on how to raise their young son, Kip (Giullian Gioiello). The tension at the dinner table almost immediately foreshadows the rest of the film when Veronica exclaims to her son that “art is not a real thing,” after she notices him drawing at the dinner table.

The scene cuts to Heche as Ashley, an art dealer trying to find meaning in her work. Sally (Ariel Kavoussi) plays her soft-spoken assistant who, at a young tender age, fuels bits and pieces of advice to her lackluster superior throughout the film. Ashley’s home life is overshadowed with the daily doldrums of adulting with her partner, Lisa (Silverstone). The couple struggle to find creative ways to become pregnant – an element that is important to both of them.

Ashley takes on a side job that happens to be at an event hosted by her past nemesis, Veronica’s husband. The two ladies find themselves at a disservice when Veronica relentlessly attacks both Ashley’s sexual preference, as well as job profession. Although some say that words might be more effective, it’s the massive fist blows that are the true crutch in this film.

The epic fight battles between Oh and Heche are not your run of the mill girly fights. This is heart thumping, fist pounding, rib cracking drama that eventually leads to Oh slipping into a two year coma. She finds that her life has been turned upside down, and goes on a personal and physical journey to avenge the last two years of the life and memories she lost.

The major plot points are painfully political and veer away from the underlying physical aspect that most viewers might resonate with. It’s a cold look at the lackluster life of both artistic and non-artistic individuals that are fighting to find their place in the world.

Oh and Heche’s performance is stellar in the film with their emotions clearly displayed in each gut wrenching punch. The physical altercations in the film are merely jabs that the women lash out in response to their own lives. Veronica, struggling with her war obsessed husband and lackluster of an Ivy League educated son and Ashley struggling to find a home for her artwork.

“Catfight” will be released in select theaters March 3.