Coming straight from Australia, the psychological thrillerRun Rabbit Runis already one of the notable genre films of 2023. The debut in the genre by TV director Daina Reid starsSuccession’s Sarah Snook and child actor Lily LaTorrein a character-driven journeythat begins with the usual tropes of disturbing kiddie behavior, but then it turns into something else altogether.
Run Rabbit Runmakes a risky jump to horror that’s only possible with the flawless script by newcomer Hannah Kent, who in the writer’s seat manages to comply with genre rules and also challenge viewers to believe that what they are seeing, is actually happening. InRun Rabbit Run, the unspeakable happens.
The film tells the story of Sarah and Mia, a mother and daughter going through Sarah’s divorce and awkward relationship with Mia’s father who’s trying to reboot with another family. Sarah’s father has recently died and Mia, as usual, starts asking questions. However, questions turn into a disturbing behavior that has many signs of possession. And it all has to do with Sarah’s past, which no one really knows about. At least the truth about it.
With riveting performances, the film is part of the exceptional Australian lineage of horror that seems to be able to show things other cultures prefer not to address. If you’re looking for your next horror fix, we’re sureRun Rabbit Runwill satisfy your needs. These are the film’s scariest moments.
10The Beginning
Run Rabbit Runis one of those films that’s all about mood. It never starts as a joyful movie, but slowly you feel as if dread drags you deeper down a broken world.
The opening creditsoffer a wasteland. A lifeless body of water where only dry trees remain and death lurks. It’s a gloomy presentation of the dark world you’re about to enter, and an appropriate way to reflect the emotional status of Sarah and Mia’s reality. The score by Mark Bradshaw is a great companion already.
9Mia Hides
When teachers call parents, it’s usually to report bullying or the kid having a weird behavior. The weird drawings are already part of the catalog of horror tropes for the “weird kid” subgenre.
But before this happens, Sarah evidences a chilling event that goes beyond the teacher-mother meeting. Sarah arrives late to pick up Mia at school. She runs through the hallways and then in the playground, the teacher seems to have lost the girl. As it happens several times in the film, Sarah is not aware of where Mia has gone.
When she finally finds the girl, she sits while aggressively panting in a cement tunnel. There’s no way this is the same Mia she’s always been. But Sarah reluctantly fails to recognize this.
After they find the white bunny on their doorstep, Sarah decides to let Mia enjoy the birthday present no one really gave Mia. She’ll release the animal later.
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However, Mia begins displaying a fascination with the animal. She draws it of course. But she also makes a mask, one that she starts to wear all the time as she starts telling Sarah she’s not Mia. Now she’s Alice, and behind the mask, there lurks the truth.
It doesn’t help the mood that Mia gets used to waking up her mom by standing silently beside the bed and staring at her until Sarah wakes up. This happens every single morning. Now, imagine if your own kid started doing that.Run Rabbit Runis a solid horror filmbased on children being creepy.
7I Miss People I’ve Never Met All the Time
From the start, Mia seems to be a normally curious child. She asks about everything but not for everything. She’s brave enough to explore and be by herself.
As she speaks with her mother Sarah in the car, Mia delivers a line that sets the tone of the film. It reveals a chilling fact and not exactly a possibility. Mia says to her mother with absolute confidence that she misses people she’s never met all the time. Does she “shine”? Is she making it up? Disturbed, Sarah looks back at her, and then we get the title on screen.
6Mia Wants to See Joan
Mia’s homework consists of building a family tree. She asks her mom for some help finding some photos she can use. Sarah refuses, and it becomes clear there’s something she doesn’t want to remember about her past. However, given that her father has recently passed, his boxes are within reach. She opens up one of them and finds a photo of two small girls.
She decides to put it back in the box, but minutes later, she finds it in Mia’s bedroom. Confidently Mia says it’s her in the photo which alerts Sarah. Then Mia says she wants to meet Joan, Sarah’s mother, and Mia’s grandma who’s in a center for the elderly. The moment is key for Sarah to see maybe anunwanted spirit is speakingthrough her daughter.
5Mia Meets Joan
The first time Mia meets Joan, Sarah stands back as Joan calls the kid “Alice.” Is she confused? Dementia may be the reason, but Mia looks incredibly happy to finally meet Joan.
Only Joan grabs the kid and doesn’t let go. Mia doesn’t mind but Sarah panics and grabs her daughter. Chaos ensues when Joan violently asks for Alice to be given back and Mia hysterically screams to be let go, so she can embrace Joan. A future scene reveals Joan’s mental condition caused the incident, but it actually was a sign of the event that would soon be revealed.
4Mommy Gets the Scissors
Mia is continuously attacked by something. The bump in her head keeps getting larger. Her nosebleeds are more common. Whatever’s behind the strange occurrences has enough physical power to harm the child.
However,Run Rabbit Runis alsoa film about motherhoodand its dark unexpected turns. Sarah isn’t a great mother, and out of desperation while trying to see Mia’s bump she grabs some scissors to cut her hair and put a bandage. The child resists and her mother ends up brutally cutting her arms with the sharp scissors. A moment of extreme violence in a non-violent film.
3Alice’s Ghost?
Throughout the whole film, we get these glimpses of… something. Is it aghostly presenceor is it Mia stalking her mom? Who knows.
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However, when Sarah and Mia head over to the house where Sarah grew up, the apparitions become something else. The game Mia always played with her mother in which she covered her eyes from the back and said “guess who,” becomes an encounter with an entity that has decided to show itself and terrify Sarah out of her mind.
Undoubtedly, this is Alice, the real one. And she’s here for business.
2The Truth About Alice
Through a flashback, we finally find out who Alice was, where she went, and how Sarah played a part in her sister’s disappearance. As it turns out, Sarah wasn’t a good sister. She locked up Alice constantly. One day when Alice freed herself, she started choking Sarah. But then Sarah grabbed one of their father’s tools and hit Alice in the face, causing a horrible wound.
Alice walks away disoriented, and Sarah follows. Ultimately, when they arrive at the end of the ridge, Sarah pushes Alice, and she falls to her death. The body of water we saw in the beginning is where Alice’s body has always been, and Sarah never told anyone.
Pete has arrived at Sarah’s childhood home to also care for his daughter, whose mental state appears to be degraded. Mother and daughter fall asleep in an embrace after Mia has gone missing, and both parents find her hidden.
The next morning something pulls Mia from Sarah’s arms. The mother wakes up and desperately looks for her daughter (Pete is asleep in another bed in a very eerie position). When Sarah looks out the window, her stomach drops. Outside Alice holds Mia by the hand, and they slowly walk towards the ridge, as Sarah screams in terror as she knows her daughter will be killed in a matter of minutes.
