I think everyone needs a hug. When you hear a movie called Dust Bunny, you think “hey, a cute little movie for the family” right? But it’s 2025, and that means Dust Bunny is directed by the Hannibal TV series director, scaring not just children, but many adults too. It rocks…but I still hope everyone finds some real love and happiness so kids movie titles can be, well, actual kids movies.
How does Aurora (Sophie Sloan) sleep? At night, she’s convinced the titular Dust Bunny is real, and hiding under her bed, ready to attack anyone at night who’s set foot on the floor. Her parents (Line Kruse and Caspar Phillipson) don’t believe her, leaving out a lot of options. One night she thinks she sees the mercurial resident in 5B (Mads Mikkelsen) slay a real dragon in Chinatown. Light bulbs go off, and Aurora gathers $300+ dollars, to procure 5B’s services so she can get a decent night’s sleep for once.
I can’t stress enough: Dust Bunny’s creative force is Brian Fuller, who created the Hannibal TV show. I would say it’s almost required that you watch an episode or two to know what type of movie you’re in for. I was shocked at how quickly Fuller makes clear this isn’t gonna be a cute romp, scaring the bejesus out of poor Aurora with wonderfully designed suspenseful nights. And only Mads Mikkelsen is there to be a calming influence? What a horrifying world for the poor girl. At least the conversations between Aurora and 5B are aligned with the movie’s tone: they are sinister but pretty funny, as Mads has to logically repeat back Aurora’s statements about giant bunny rabbits eating people. Fuller brings in a wonderful cast of characters to help keep Dust Bunny unsettling. The minute Sheila Atim and David Dastmalchian pop up, you know something maniacally demented is bound to happen next.
The world Fuller puts us in isn’t making us comfortable either. It follows Hannibal’s motif to a tee. Aurora’s apartment complex is Tim Burton with more unnerving shadings, using strange color and architecture palettes that immediately place you inside the movie’s wavelength. The bigger the world gets keeps the same theme, like a weirdo floral restaurant inside a train station. The costumes suggest punk fantasy, whimsical with an edge. All these pieces are necessary to deliver the big third act finale. At that point, Fuller has so immersed us in his weird little story that anything and everything is on the table. And what comes is very him: 2 parts dark twisted fantasy, one part, dark silly joke. Uncomfortable laughter abounded in my theater, even more uncomfortable next me, cackling more than a few times at the hilarious cruel punchlines Fuller conjures in Dust Bunny.
I pity the poor date to this movie, unready for what they are about to experience. I would wager you’d need half an hour at least to get on Dust Bunny’s wavelength. But my hope is that you do, because what Brian Fuller pulls off here is much harder than your basic dumb kids movie. I truly applaud his attempts to make Mads Mikkelsen seem like a normal guy, when his face is right there suggesting otherwise. Bravo sir!