Dust Bunny, 2025.
Written and Directed by Bryan Fuller.
Starring Sophie Sloan, Mads Mikkelsen, Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, Rebecca Henderson, Sheila Atim, and Nóra Trokán.
SYNOPSIS:
An eight-year-old girl asks her scheming neighbor for help in killing the monster under her bed that she thinks ate her family.
As far as cinematic metaphors go, the idea of monsters as hitmen from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl is rather inspired. It also works since writer/director Bryan Fuller doesn’t stop at just the idea, but also grounds Dust Bunny in a fantasy-lite world that keeps viewers on their toes, wondering what is real and what is magical, even when we begin to suspect where the filmmaker will inevitably go with the answers.
Similarly, the script is also whimsical, sometimes rhymes, and peppered with humor that brings to mind a children’s fairytale. Everything about Bryan Fuller’s narrative vision is so confidently and imaginatively realized that it also doesn’t matter that he doesn’t necessarily have the financial backing to ensure the CGI is top-of-the-line, although it is serviceable for the material.
Terrified of the monster under her bed (a monstrously oversized dust bunny), Aurora’s (Sophie Sloan) parents naturally assume she is fibbing and that her fears are the result of a hyperactive imagination. Her parents are murdered offscreen, though, by something, and given that much of the film is from her perspective, that is accomplished through special-effects-driven moving floorboards and destruction. The monster also seems to come out only when someone touches the floor (which no one believes Aurora about), meaning the now-orphaned girl moves around her house in a makeshift boat. This also means that this is not the first time monsters have gotten her parents.
One night, Aurora notices a stranger (credited as Intriguing Neighbor and played by regular Bryan Fuller collaborator, the endlessly engaging no matter the role, Mads Mikkelsen, here in what is tonally a riff on Leon the Professional by way of Guillermo del Toro) sneaking around and trying to remain undetected, seemingly focused on something with great purpose. It turns out the man is an assassin of monsters, taking down a multi-eyed dragon in Chinatown during what appears to be a highly festive celebration of the Chinese New Year. Naturally, Aurora gets the idea to send over an envelope of money, hiring him to kill the monster under her bed. The neighbor (who is amusingly always being corrected for pronouncing Aurora as “Erora”) insists that he doesn’t kill monsters. Meanwhile, Aurora assures him she knows what she saw.
Working with his handler, Laverne (Sigourney Weaver), the neighboring assassin can deduce that whoever killed Aurora’s parents got the wrong apartment number and had meant to kill him. Much more cold-blooded and straight to the point, she also encourages him to get rid of the girl since she knows his face. However, this violent hitman also has a soft spot and takes it upon himself to inquire into the girl’s life and to offer protection, feeling responsible for the death of her parents.
The film also works so well as a two-hander that it can be occasionally frustrating, and it doesn’t quite work whenever the story incorporates smaller supporting players into the mix (these scenes also come across as padding to fill time). There also isn’t much concern about fleshing out this assassination world or the types of clients the neighbor is generally tasked with taking out.
By the time another group of hitmen, led by underappreciated character actor David Dastmalchian, enters the picture, Bryan Fuller is ready to fully merge reality and fantasy into an exciting piece of cleanly shot, wondrous action. Dust Bunny relies heavily on its central metaphor but is elevated by the charm of its lead performances and their interplay. Sure, there isn’t much here regarding depth, but that’s more than made up for with the imagination on hand.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
