If you've ever wondered if you can really have fun with a 5-minute short film, you'll likely want to check out writer-director Josie Charles and Nathan Miller's dark and delgihtful Dead Cat Film, a film so joyously weird and wonderful that I likely fell in love with it in its opening minute and couldn't stop smiling throughout. 

Dead Cat Film stars newcomer Josie Charles as a young woman who accidentally kills her flatmate's cat. Never quite doing the right thing, she then becomes increasingly attached to its taxidermied corpse. In an unexpected twist and a perfect bit of casting, Hugh Bonneville shows up here providing the authoritative voice of the stuffed cat. 

Meow. 

Dead Cat Film is, as one might expect, a dark comedy that also benefits from an appearance by breakout star Will Gao (Netflix's Heartstopper) as the aforementioned flatmate. Gao and Charles are a delight together, deadpan and weird and wonderful and everything we want them to be. 

Dead Cat Film was produced by BAFTA-nominated independent production company Rasp Films and enjoyed a tremendously successful festival run with several prizes along its journey. The film follows up Charles's Grand Jury Prize win at the Oscar-qualifying Slamdance Film Festival in January for her new short film fishing. 

In other words, Josie Charles is one to watch. 

 As another positive to note, Dead Cat Film was made with a 50% female cast and crew. 

In addition to impressive turns from both Charles and Gao, original music by Gonzalo Varela adds yet another spark to the film and Charles Mori's lensing for the film helps to amplify the film's darkly comical weirdness. Kudos as well for Lydia Harrison's production design and Helena Bonner's costume design for the film. 

Dead Cat Film premiered online on Directors Notes on April 9th. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic