Wildly unpredictable, visually gorgeous, and occasionally gruesome, the German animated feature Felidae is a surreal amalgam of gothic horror and noir-tinged mystery that’s definitely not for the kiddies. The film is rife with delirious dream imagery and unrestrained depictions of sadistic medical experiments, murder, and mutilation. Not to mention that, per its feline-centric title, all the central characters are cats. Felidae is the result of what might happen if a giallo director like Dario Argento took a whack at directing The Secret of Nimh.

No sooner has the urbane Francis (Ulrich Tukur), accompanied by his feckless human “can opener,” a romance writer named Gustav Löbel (Manfred Steffen), moved into new digs in a new part of town, than he meets the grizzled Bluebeard (Mario Adorf), who supplies the profanely wise-cracking buddy component for the twisty mystery that follows. Bluebeard’s idea of a housewarming present turns out to be...