The year is 2017. Donald Trump has been inaugurated as president of the United States; the #MeToo movement begins, propelled by multiple women’s allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein; and The New Yorker publishes a short story titled Cat Person, which quickly goes viral. As much praised as it was criticised, Kristen Roupenian’s internet-breaking story of bad sex and modern dating centred on a 20-year-old college student named Margot who gradually falls into flirtation with an older man named Robert. As Margot navigates a courtship that Robert seems much more invested in than she is, she becomes awkward and uncomfortable in his presence, but feels unable to officially call things off.

In its written form, Cat Person expertly lays bare the grey areas and ambiguities in new relationships. The story’s standout moment comes when, despite feeling disappointed and uneasy during a date with Robert, Margot consents to sex rather than navigate turning him down. “The thought of what it would take to stop what she had set in motion was overwhelming,” Roupenian writes. “It would require an amount of tact and gentleness that she felt was impossible to summon.” It’s awkward and uncomfortable, raising important questions about what it truly means to consent to a sexual encounter, and what happens if you feel unable to take that consent away.

The film adaptation of Roupenian’s story, out in cinemas today, is equally chilling in its portrayal of the psychological impact of unrequited attention. It’s suitable, then, that it begins with the Margaret Attwood quote: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”

“Cat Person is a searing reminder of the fear every woman lives with”