Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Dust Bunny’ is an unusual little film about a little girl who hires a contract killer to slay the monster under her bed, claiming it’s very, very real, and ate her parents.
Directed and written by Bryan Fuller, ‘Dust Bunny’ stars Sophie Sloan as Aurora, the primary protagonist, an adorable girl haunted every night by a terrifying supernatural being under her bed. Mads Mikkelsen plays Aurora’s nameless neighbor, and for some comically peculiar reasons, the little girl thinks the mysterious older man should be able to defeat her monster. Thus begins a whimsical tale of an adorable kid befriending a professional killer to tackle her problems.
Sophie Sloan is an absolutely delight as Aurora, like a little Wednesday Addams; she is serious, gloomy, cute, and convinced a flesh-eating monster lives with her, yet she remains coolly unfazed when it supposedly gobbles up her mom and dad. She just doesn’t want to be next in line, so she plots to steal some money to hire herself a demon-slayer.
Mads Mikkelsen is entertainingly amusing as the no-nonsense nameless neighbor, someone whose job description is killing people, but he cannot get himself to be mean, let alone harm the little girl as she seeks him out for help. While he does not believe in Aurora’s monster theory, he is pretty sure someone did murder her parents in her apartment, someone professional, and he decides to protect the child, forming an unusual bond with her.
The first half of ‘Dust Bunny’ brilliantly keeps up the intrigue over whether Aurora’s monster is real, while her neighbor thinks its real monsters she should be worried about: humans. This of course isn’t a comedy, but it is consistently comical to see the interactions between the menacing elderly man and the tiny, sweet-faced girl. If there is one glaring problem with the film, it’s the annoyingly dimly lit videography from the start to the end.
Aurora’s monster doubles up as a literal and metaphorical villain, representing anything a human could be potentially scared off. According to the girl, it only emerges during nights and devours anybody that steps on the floor, conveniently leaving no trace of its existence.
To add some conflict to the tale, the contract killer’s boss Laverne (Sigourney Weaver) thinks it is best to get rid of Aurora, since she has seen his face and can identify him. Which means, apart from the monster, ‘Dust Bunny’ is packed with hired men and women trying to send little Aurora to the afterlife.
While the pacing of Dust Bunny may test the patience of some viewers, the excellent cast and gorgeous artsy-retro visuals make it entertaining, as if you’re watching a Wes Anderson movie dipped in horror. Honestly though, the cinematography could have been far more visually fun had the lighting not remained so frustratingly dull for most of the runtime.
Anyway, I don’t want to write or give away too much about the film, so if you do not mind slow-moving films, and appreciate whimsical stories about over-imaginative kids and monsters, this should be a great pick.
Watch Dust Bunny on Prime Video.
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