Notes
My quick rating - 6.8/10. Well, that was a pleasantly strange flick. Dust Bunny is one of those that sneaks up on you, wins you over, and makes me wonder why more movies don’t take risks like this anymore. The setup alone feels like a dare. Ten-year-old (not 8 according to Bryan Fuller) Aurora (Sophie Sloan) asks her quiet, hitman neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen) to kill the monster under her bed, which she insists already ate her family. Of course, he doesn't believe her. He thinks all the commotion in and around her apartment is the aftermath of enemies seeking to get to him. The truth turns out to be that both are right and completely wrong.
The film opens with subtle but effective visual cues, introducing the “evil” dust bunny through fleeting shadows and movement, paired with moody shots of an urban cityscape that carries a faint Tim Burton vibe. It’s atmospheric and immediately had me intrigued. Things escalate quickly when Aurora follows her neighbor and stumbles into something far less ordinary - an unexpectedly flashy, out-of-the-blue hand-to-hand fight staged against a firework-lit backdrop. It’s a bold tonal shift, but it works. At that point, Dust Bunny immediately reminded me of Big Trouble in Little China, and honestly, you know that's a compliment from me.
Writer/director Bryan Fuller imagines a singular, playful world where hitmen, monsters, and childhood imagination all coexist without apology. Sigourney Weaver pops up as the hitman's handler, doling out sharp dialogue with serious attitude and reminding everyone just how effortlessly commanding she can be. The genre mashup is where the film really shines. Thinking the monster under the bed is only some metaphor for gang violence or trauma? Think again. The monsters are very real, and once Aurora is dragged into their world, gun-toting assassins are quickly the least of anyone's concern.
Despite the carnage, the film doesn’t rely on excessive gore to rack up a body count. The creature effects are well done, and the titular dust bunny is oddly adorable in a deeply unsettling way - cute, but in a “please don’t let that near me” sense. That makes it tricky to label this as straight horror, but the genre elements are definitely there, just wrapped in whimsy rather than pure terror.
The heart of the movie lies in the chemistry between Mikkelsen and Sloan. This odd couple partnership surprisingly works, with a nice enough running joke involving his inability to say her name right, adding a bit of genuine warmth to proceedings. This is a film that arguably goes to the fringes of what a child-friendly horror film can be without getting neutered.
Visually, Dust Bunny has a strong aesthetic identity, which helps to complement the tone of the film, and the rhythm keeps the story churning along. Although the narrative occasionally wanders, the charm, imagination, and directness of Dust Bunny keep everything fascinating. For a debut feature, Fuller delivers an achievement in itself, especially following his excellent work on Hannibal. I guess he and Mikkelsen are still on good terms, as he appeared in Hannibal, too.
Dust Bunny is a creative, intelligent movie that works on its own silly terms. It's funny, imaginative, and surprisingly heartfelt. For those in the mood for something different, it's an easy recommendation. Side note: if I caught this during 2025, it absolutely would’ve landed a spot somewhere on my Top Ten horror list.
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