Sundance 2025: ‘Rabbit Trap’ is Intriguing, Mysterious Nature Horror
by Alex Billington
January 26, 2025
A model new British folks horror creation has revealed itself on the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Rabbit Trap is the function directorial debut of up-and-coming British-Australian filmmaker Bryn Chainey, who each wrote and directed this movie. Yet one other extraordinarily private challenge based mostly on his personal worst fears and experiences, like many filmmakers attempting to work by means of them by making a movie about them. Rabbit Trap is set in 1976 and follows a younger married couple who reside out within the wilderness in rural England in a bit of cabin. While dwelling on the market alone, attempting to make distinctive music and report pure sounds, they find yourself encountering some unusual supernatural forces. This sends them right into a tizzy as they try to make sense of what is happening – and it will get particularly bizarre when a mysterious child randomly exhibits up and works his/her manner into their life. There are some intriguing concepts on this but it surely by no means quantities to a lot ultimately, and the finale is moderately lackluster. But I’m enchanted by most of it anyway and I can not write off your complete movie.
Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap options two predominant characters: an avant-garde musician named Daphne, performed by the terribly gifted Rosy McEwen, who “toils over reel-to-reel tape machines and oscillators in their cottage” whereas her withdrawn husband, Darcy, collects subject recordings outdoors. Dev Patel co-stars as Darcy and is kind of the lead, although it drifts between each Darcy and Daphne all through as issues begin to get unusual. After strolling across the close by woods someday, an impressive forest in Wales, Darcy stumbles throughout a peculiar circle on the bottom outlined by mushrooms. What is it? After stepping inside, every little thing begins to alter. The subsequent day a curious younger androgynous youngster exhibits up close to their residence. Jade Croot stars as this younger youngster, who they refuse to call, and it is clear as quickly as he/she/it arrives that it is not precisely human. But he does job convincing them he is only a neighbor who is aware of the woods and is adept at rabbit trapping, whereas slowly getting them to just accept him and let him in. While this occurs, Darcy’s nightmares start to worsen and the character outdoors their cottage turns into ever extra mysteriously bizarre.
I have to admit that I really cherished the primary half of Rabbit Trap: the magic and thriller and intrigue of the supernatural discovered within the earth and floor, connecting with this couple recording pure sounds to make an album. There is additionally the attractive countryside cottage they reside in, with nice photographs of the character round them. Cinematographer Andreas Johannessen had his work minimize out for him – they simply needed to level the digicam on the panorama round this place and it is all simply magically gorgeous. This magical nature-is-ravishing vibe is the perfect a part of the movie, alas the story would not match the appear and feel. The second half of the movie is an enormous “HUH?” The movie tries to be ethereal and unsettling as a horror function however by no means quantities to a lot and wraps up with a moderately complicated ending. I could make a guess as to what occurs. As it goes on, and tries to deepen its thriller, there are some moments that appear to be constructing to one thing larger and scarier, however they peter out rapidly and the narrative simply rolls on. I saved ready for it to develop into one thing extra thrilling but it surely by no means will get there… I wished to cheer it on, however there’s not a lot to cheer for on the finish.
Rabbit Trap is half of a fascinating folks horror with some good concepts hindered by irritating storytelling. I can not say I did not just like the movie, I do prefer it, however solely considerably. I love a lot of it and what it is attempting to do and the mystique of the earth, I simply do not like the place it finally ends up and the way it appears to be lacking a climax. Too many movies like this lately which have a good suggestion and begin out properly however then go nowhere and by no means do something with the idea. Chainey appears to be impressed by Ben Wheatley’s nature horror movies like A Field in England and extra lately In the Earth; even when he was circuitously impressed by them, the comparability is correct. Much like In the Earth, the second half of this is a let down as properly, taking fascinating characters to unexciting, uninteresting locations. There’s one half within the finale that appears superior and feels majestically unsettling, but it surely strikes on manner too rapidly. Nature could be scary, particularly the magic of the woods, but it surely’s significantly exhausting to seize this sense correctly in a horror movie and switch that right into a fascinating narrative.
Alex’s Sundance 2025 Rating: 6.5 out of 10
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