“Catfish”
Title:
- Catfish
Conference:
Description:
Elise, 9 yo, has to move out of her suburban childhood home. To make matters worse, as she enters her new apartment with her orange pet cat Roger in her arms, he turns into a goldfish. Horrified by the change and the lack of understanding from her parents, she refuses to accept her cat’s transformation. Elise returns to her old house along with her goldfish, thinking it can reverse the spell. She thrusts the bowl repeatedly through the door frame, to no avail. When she steps inside, she is faced with the vast and silent emptiness of the house. She goes into her old bedroom, puts the fishbowl on a dresser, and breaks down in tears when she sees her and Roger’s old drawings on the wall in his cat form. While she pleads for her cat to return, Roger meets her in a ghostly cat form. When Elise tries to hug him, he runs out of the room. Elise tries to follow him but, in her hurry, she stumbles and catches the dresser to regain her balance. The fishbowl dangerously tips over. Elise hesitates but seeing her cat disappear by the stairs, she runs out of the room, letting the fishbowl fall to the floor. Downstairs, she is confronted with ghost versions of her family and herself in nostalgic scenes of her daily life in this house. However, this dream soon turns to a nightmare; the ghosts start acting aggressively towards Elise and forcing her to stay with them. They chase her and Elise falls into a deep void, trying to escape. She notices Roger’s limp fish body by her feet surrounded by the glass shards of the fishbowl and breaks down out of sadness.
