In "Run Rabbit Run," Sarah Snook shines in a battle against weak plotting, delivering a compelling performance in this atmospheric and derivative ghost story.
Daina Reid's Australian psychodrama explores buried trauma and resurrected guilt, putting Sarah Snook's character, Sarah, through a harrowing experience involving a creepy bunny. Sarah, a fertility doctor with a young daughter named Mia (played remarkably by Lily LaTorre) and an amiable ex-husband named Pete (portrayed by Damon Herriman), grapples with her own emotional turmoil following the recent death of her father.
As the narrative unfolds, Sarah's distress intensifies when Pete reveals his plans to have a child with his new wife. Sarah's opposition to Mia having a sibling becomes more evident, but the reason behind her reluctance remains a mystery, teasing viewers with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Mia undergoes a disturbing transformation, becoming a stranger to her own mother. She insists on meeting her grandmother, whom she has never seen before, and begins experiencing tantrums, panic attacks, and unexplained injuries. Rather than seeking professional help, Sarah reluctantly agrees to Mia's demands, leading to disastrous consequences. In the world of such movies, adult rationality takes a backseat to the story's requirements, making way for a haunting presence in the form of a white rabbit that materializes on Sarah's porch and fiercely resists eviction.
Gloomy and enigmatic, "Run Rabbit Run" is a brooding, teasing film that hints at the usual signs of the spectral: unsettling dreams, eerie drawings, and unsettling masks. Sarah Snook's performance, though intense, accentuates the superficiality of Hannah Kent's script. Nevertheless, the movie occasionally showcases glimpses of vitality and incisiveness. Bonnie Elliott's camera work, capturing dank sheds filled with ominous tools, navigating forbidding tunnels of twisted vines, and recoiling from shocking moments involving scissors, hints at a more profound and engaging film waiting to be fully realized. One can't help but wish for more insight into the enigmatic bunny that haunts the story.
In conclusion, "Run Rabbit Run" combines Sarah Snook's splendid acting with a narrative that falls short in terms of plot development. Despite its flaws, the film manages to tap into the dark secrets of buried trauma, leaving audiences captivated by the mysteries it presents, even if some aspects feel disappointingly derivative.
Run Rabbit Run (2023) - info
- Release date: January 19, 2023
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Director: Daina Reid
- Writer: Hannah Kent
- Stars: Sarah Snook, Lily LaTorre, Neil Melville