Cats is a 2019 musical fantasy film based on the 1981 West End musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which in turn was based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot which the film is also based on/inspired by. The film was directed by Tom Hooper, in his second feature musical following Les Misérables (2012), from a screenplay by Lee Hall and Hooper. It stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward. The film marked the feature film debut for both Derulo and Hayward.

Plot

Victoria, a young white cat, is abandoned by her owner in the streets of London in the middle of the night. Witnessing this, a group of alley cats introduce themselves to her as the "Jellicles". Mr. Mistoffelees, Munkustrap, Cassandra, and Demeter take Victoria under their wing and show her the world of the Jellicles as they prepare for the Jellicle Ball, an annual ceremony where cats must compete to be chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and be granted a new life.