Late to the Party: Reviews for films I didn't catch in theatres - Dust Bunny
- Carla Davis
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
When Dust Bunny was released in theatres in December, I fully intended on seeing it. It was written and directed by Bryan Fuller, who was the genius behind the Hannibal series, and I greatly enjoy his commentary in horror movie documentaries. It also stars Mads Mikkelsen, who was brilliant in Hannibal and everything else he has appeared in.
Dust Bunny was released right around my birthday, and I really did want to see it. But, as seems to happen so often, life was life-ing, and I missed it. So, I jumped right on it when it recently began streaming on HBO Max.
Mikkelsen is a character known as “Intriguing Neighbor,” which is how eight-year-old Aurora thinks of him. Aurora lives in a New York City apartment with her parents, and Intriguing Neighbor lives in 5B across the hall.
Aurora is convinced that a monster lives in the floor under her bed, and is constantly pleading with her parents to stay off the floor, lest the monster (known as the Dust Bunny) eat them. Of course, they try to soothe her and tell her there is no monster.
One morning, her parents are gone, leaving evidence that something violent happened to them, and she decides that the only person who can kill the monster is Intriguing Neighbor – who just happens to be a hit man. But, how is an eight-year-old to pay someone for such a delicate task? Aurora dresses up like a 50’s housewife, complete with head scarf and cat’s eye glasses, and promptly steals the church offering money.
In case this isn’t clear yet, Dust Bunny is not straight up horror/action, it’s played almost like a children’s movie – a children’s movie with lots of action and brutal violence. If Tim Burton were to have made Leon: The Professional, I imagine it would have looked a lot like Dust Bunny. And that’s a compliment, by the way. I absolutely adored this movie, and it will definitely be joining my physical media collection.
Dust Bunny features a strong cast.
Joining Mikkelsen in this joyous, violent chaos are Sigourney Weaver as Intriguing Neighbor’s handler Laverne, Sheila Atim as Brenda (a social worker – or is she?), and David Dastmalchian as one of the many hit men out to kill Intriguing Neighbor.
So many people are after him in fact, that he believes one of them actually killed Aurora’s parents in error. He does not believe there is a monster, despite the fact that she pushes herself around on a piece of furniture on wheels so she doesn’t touch the floor, and is constantly pleading with him to stay off the floor.
And that brings me to Sophie Sloan, who brings Aurora to life 100%. She is fabulous in this film! Child actors can be over the top and cloying, but Sloan is earnest and real. Her facial expressions are spot on, and she and Mikkelsen are fantastic together. Their banter is witty and fun (He is constantly mis-pronouncing her name, and their back and forth is just lovely), and you can just feel the bond they are developing as he tries to keep her safe from the assassins and she tries to keep him safe from the monster.
The costumes and sets are colorful, and look as if they came out of a children’s storybook. There is just so much to look at in this film at all times, including the huge Dust Bunny, which explodes out of the floorboards.
Dust Bunny is definitely a unique and original film. It has the look and almost the feel of a children’s story, but the violence is pretty hardcore. There is not any heavy gore, but in one scene, Mikkelsen has cut up a potential assassin’s body, and we see Aurora helping him wrap up the pieces in brown paper. I would say it would be appropriate for older kids depending on how easily they are frightened…more or less a gateway film for kids who are drawn to horror. And as a bonus, parents will thoroughly enjoy it as well!