Run Rabbit Run – A Messy Psychological Horror (Early Review)

Grief and trauma are easy themes to tap into for any aspiring psychological horror film as the most effective horror is the kind that can connect with audiences on a deeper level. While many have tried to replicate that formula, few have been truly successful. Without that connection, anything else the film may offer arguably doesn’t matter. When it comes to Run Rabbit Run, a film acquired by Netflix before its premiere in the Midnight section of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, it brings some good ideas to the table but where it falters is the execution of its premise. A mess for the most part, it could never quite come together in a satisfying way. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of elements that shine through, none bigger than a strong lead performance from Sarah Snook. Meanwhile, the film also succeeds at creating an eerie tone and atmosphere that does help. However, it doesn’t do nearly enough with it. At the end of the day, what was missing was a better script to drive home its deeper themes and build a stronger connection between audiences and its characters.

Run Rabbit Run follows a fertility doctor named Sarah (Snook) whose daughter’s sudden erratic behavior forces her to take a look back at her troubled past. As Mia (LaTorre) turned 7-yeard-old, she was acting increasingly out of character. Poking and prodding at Sarah’s fragile psyche through her ridiculous tantrums, she struggled to keep it all together and figure out the root of her daughter’s sudden behavior. Haunted by a ghost from her past, a dark cloud loomed over Sarah and Mia. As much as she tried to repress her past, Sarah would need to reopen some old wounds and face it in order to somehow survive and get her daughter back. Over the course of the film, as the line between past and present became increasingly blurred, she began to spiral. This made her into a unreliable narrator of sorts as audiences watch her try to reconcile with her actions in the past that she tried so hard to forget in spite of its efforts to make her remember. The framing device used for what was intended to be a shocking reveal, being Mia’s outbursts to drive the story forward, didn’t work and the overall lack of character development deprived that moment of the emotional impact it needed.

As mentioned, the best part of the film was Snook’s strong performance as Sarah. Pulling out more depth and nuance than what was probably on the page, she was compelling to watch as a mother thanks to her chemistry with LaTorre who acted exactly like what an erratic 7-year-old kid would act like for better or worse. However, the deeper it dove into the character, the more it started to fall apart. That being said, she did her best to hold it together. Seeing Snook in projects like Succession, one can’t help but think she is capable of so much more. Granted, if she had a better script, Sarah’s arc could have been so much better and that emotional impact would have been there. Ultimately, there is only so much she could have done.

In the end, Run Rabbit Run is not without its issues but is still a decent psychological horror that may appeal to genre fans or fans of Sarah Snook. However, there are better options out there, including ones that also happen to be available on Netflix.

still courtesy of Netflix

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.