Okay, so I think most people saw this at the We Are One film festival on Youtube. I saw the film then went to the Youtube comments (why did I bother) and was rather curious about all the comments stating that it's terrible and traumatic and all of the animal violence and stuff. Once again, I went to IMDB out of curiosity and all the reviews here (the only 2) are bashing this.
Now, I would not call The Cats a great film, but it certainly isn't a bad one. I see that most people are abhorrent towards the animal abuse but it's depiction here isn't used purely for shock, but it is used to show how some people may find comfort in abuse. It's a rather interesting topic. If anyone has ever wondered about the stories they might have read in the newspapers or heard somewhere about real people suffering under the hands of their abusers and thought - why not just leave them. I suppose this gives a glimpse into what it feels like. Now, The Cats doesn't really go in depth into the psychology of what they might feel, but for a runtime of about 10 minutes, it's does pretty good. It does what it is sets out to do.
Perhaps there could have been a warning in the film's start, or the festival could've put it out in the description. Though that would have ruined the film's mid-twist, it would push aside the people that think this is another kids friendly short film that they could just plunk down their kid and occupy them for the next 10 minutes. I suppose this may have been an oversight, though try not to be that hard as most film festivals aren't held online and I think this is probably a first for the organizers.
Saying that The Cats has no value defeats the purpose of cinema and art. It would mean that films with any controversial aspect to it, done without a purposeful moral for people to learn from are valueless. Films like Naked, Come and See, A Clockwork Orange are films that depict horrible, shocking violence, and other taboos. They don't particularly end us with much hope or a particular moral that we should learn from, but are they without value? Do they not in some semblance emulate the reality that we live in?