Every year, the horror genre is filled with entries attempting to examine the ideologies of grief and trauma. While the elevated horror era of the genre has welcomed this exploration with gems like Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Babadook, not every film executes these themes effectively.
Run Rabbit Run not only fails in cashing in on a haunting performance by Sarah Snook but ultimately is a cinematic chore running in place for 90 minutes.
Run Rabbit Run follows Sarah and her daughter Mia. On Mia’s seventh birthday, Sara arrives home and finds a rabbit on her front porch. Once the rabbit appears, Mia shifts in behavior, including missing individuals she never met and claiming to be named Alice. These actions trigger Sarah to look back into her past.
While the premise is intriguing, its execution could be better. Hannah Kent’s screenplay spends a substantial amount of time creating atmospheric tension, failing to capitalize on the established mood set. Kent’s screenplay and Daina Reid’s direction feel as though they are running through the “horror tropes playbook” only to fail and leave the audience longing for a better version of this tale as old as time.
What makes the screenplay and direction issues baffling and frustrating is Reid’s previous work. Reid previously worked on The Handmaid’s Tale and The Outsider, so she is all too familiar with setting an effectively bleak and somber tone to her work. Unfortunately for Reid, the catharsis cinephiles attain in their horror films is grossly lacking in this movie.
Another glaring issue is with the film’s editing. There are many moments where scenes are cut inexplicably without them fully paying off. Yet, despite these editing issues, Run Rabbit Run is 90-minutes that never justifies its existence.
If there is one bright spot in the film, it’s Sarah Snook’s performance. Snook is committed and is often gut-wrenching in her performance. However, it’s a shame that the material doesn’t match the effectiveness of her performance. Nevertheless, there is a future for Snook in the genre, and I do hope to see her dive into the genre more often.
As the film faded to black, it’s hard to imagine the worst outcome for a movie with such promise. When planning my selections for this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Run Rabbit Run was near the top of the list. From its premise to Sarah Snook, one would think cinephiles were ready to be treated to a horror gem – a Toni Collette-style horror breakout.
Unfortunately for cinephiles, Run Rabbit Run is more Troll 2 than Hereditary.
