Savi the Cat (2022) [Tribeca Film Festival]

Directors Bryan Tucker and Netsanet Tjirongo’s “Savi the Cat” is one of the more unsuspecting short documentaries of the year. It’s a human story, but one that revolves around owning a pet. It’s amazing what adopting a pet can with and to your life. It can change it in ways that we never thought were possible, which is why so many pets are up for adoption. Not many people realize just how much of a task it can be to maintain and keep any kind of domestic animal. With “Savi the Cat,” the pair of owners not only learns about the humongous task that is of owning a cat, but the toll it inevitably takes on their relationship in the long run.

When devoted Kenyan husband Ken surprises his new Black-American wife Kaila with an adorable kitten, neither is prepared for the destruction it wields upon their home, their life, and ultimately, their marriage.

Told through animation (great work done by Freyja Whitney), home videos and real life accounts by Ken and Kaila Nsimbi, “Savi the Cat” is not just a tale of the hardships of owning a pet, but of owning a relationship. Savi is adopted through innocent means as a gift by Ken, but as the cat conveys an aggressive and overbearing personality, Ken and his wife Kaila begin to realize that Savi is beginning to dictate how the house is run and how they ultimately conduct their affairs outside of the house. Savi is inevitably revealed to be symptomatic of something deeper within the relationship between Ken and Kaila.

Although the movie doesn’t get more detailed about what could have been or was stirring in their marriage, Savi does become instrumental in helping them recognize that. Life just clicks in to place, sometimes. I was admittedly kind of skeptical with the subject matter, but “Savi the Cat” ends up being a surprisingly sweet and engaging story not just about a cat, but about two people that suddenly entered in to his life. “Savi the Cat” through and through is a sweet, funny, and adorable look at how being a pet owner is stressful, painful, emotional, and often rewarding. 

Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday June 11th, Thursday June 15th, and Saturday June 17th.