‘Run Rabbit Run’ review: Sarah Snook’s maternity flick has shivers that are only skin deep

in the footsteps The Babadook And Hereditary Run, bunny, run It adds a layer of generational analysis to portray the horror of motherhood. Although mothers have always been at the center of horror stories, the focus of the narrative has shifted recently. Filmmakers have become more interested in the question of what the child’s existence reveals about the mother, rather than the parents’ more primal fears. These stories often speak of millennials wanting not to have children, either because of the state of the world or more obviously, the fear of “messaging” a child with neurosis and generational trauma. It would be antihistorical to say that horror is just beginning to process trauma. It has always explored genre and provided commentary on the nature of trauma. But as the concept of “shock” became more popular, allusions to it in the cinematic genre became more tangible.

In the Australian psychological thriller Run, bunny, runParenthood is a bleak, lonely nightmare. The sky is dark, the rooms of the house are dark and shadowy, and Sara (Sarah Snook) seems lonely, even with her young daughter, Mia (Lily Latorre). It’s Mia’s birthday, but the mood is gloomy. Mia withdraws and Sarah gets angry quickly. The presence of her ex-husband Peter (David Herrmann) and his new family seems to make matters worse, as Sarah learns that they are trying to conceive another child. Even worse, Mia begins to show signs of being bullied, which leaves Sarah feeling helpless. With a busy work schedule and non-existent personal life, Sarah spends all her free time worrying about her daughter.

Since her birthday, Mia has started acting strangely. At certain moments her speech becomes more mature and she seems aware of her mother’s secrets. “You’re a terrible person,” she yells at Sarah during a heated argument, never making it clear what she means by that. Acting as her mother’s guilty conscience, Mia hints at a past event that Sarah does not want to remember. Slowly, her life turns into a waking nightmare as her relationship with Mia begins to deteriorate. Mia stops referring to Sarah as her mother, and treats her like an outsider. Things come to a boil when Sarah takes Mia to her childhood home, hoping it will clear up the situation. It soon becomes apparent that the conflict between mother and daughter runs deeper than either of them realize.

moody and atmospheric, Run, bunny, run Tension and dread build easily. Yet it continues to hint at depth that never comes. Director Dyna Reid takes us through all the tropes — hallucinations, mysterious injuries, and outbursts of violence in the most generic of ways. Even the symbolic white rabbit that appears in the film arouses neither interest nor awe.

But the most frustrating thing about it Run, bunny, run is her simple approach to presenting Sarah and her frustrations. We never really get inside her head because the movie is more concerned with withholding from us than telling a complete and compelling story. Scenes with family members that should fill the narrative with a rich backstory are repetitive and ambiguous, offering no clue as to why Sarah is so lonely and capricious in the first place.

Sarah’s friends and family are not helpful, in part because she doesn’t have the language to tell them what’s going on. But there is also an advantage to Sarah, one that cannot be easily explained by fatigue. Snook plays her like a child trapped in an adult’s body – defensive, easily overpowered and prone to tantrums. Moments between mother and daughter soon turn into vicious arguments. However, LaTorre shows promise as Mia, in an early performance that needs a better movie. Writer Hannah Kent’s script is too simple to provide the young actress with memorable lines of dialogue.

In the end, the film feels like a missed opportunity to explore the ways childhood never leaves us, and how having children can force a mother to question her true self. There are moments when you feel like Sarah doesn’t feel right at all to be a mother. If only Run, bunny, run He wasn’t too afraid to go deeper.