DUST BUNNY: For Those Mad About Mads

DUST BUNNY (4K UHD)

2025 / 106 min

Lionsgate

Available at Movie Zyng

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Bunny Hunter😺

Maybe some of you fathers with daughters can relate to this…

I have two, Natalie and Lucy, and though they’re both adults now, I still see them as my little girls. So as they’ve gotten older, it’s been weird learning of their celebrity crushes, especially when we’re watching a movie featuring one of them. Weirder still is that both prefer their crushes in grungier roles… disheveled, grimy, unshaven and looking like they style their hair with a leaf blower.

For example, Lucy loves Pedro Pascal, but not clean-cut Pedro, but the weathered, grizzled Pedro from stuff like The Last of Us. Natalie happens to be mad about Mads…Mikkelsen, that is. Ever since seeing him in the Hannibal series, she’s loved the guy, especially the times he looks like he just spent a year out in the wild wrestling mountain lions.

She’d love Mikkelsen in Dust Bunny. He doesn’t live in the woods or throw-down with the local wildlife, but as a professional hitman, he certainly does his share of ass-kicking…as well as confronting the titular creature. That’s right, Natalie, the title isn’t anything symbolic. There’s literally a dust-created monster living under the floorboards of a little girl’s room, who eats her parents one night. After witnessing her ‘Intriguing Neighbor’ (Mikkelsen) kill what she thinks is a dragon, the girl, Aurora (Sophie Sloan), wants to hire him to kill the monster.

"The '70s called...they want their leisure suit back."

While he informs her that he does indeed kill monsters, they are human monsters, so he initially believes Aurora’s is a figment of her imagination. Still, he becomes her reluctant guardian, especially since he’s certain her parents were killed by people who were actually targeting him. However, when his handler, Laverne (Sigourney Weaver), learns Aurora witnessed his handiwork, she sends other assassins to the apartment to eliminate her. Needless to say, everyone (except Aurora) is in for a big surprise…literally, as it turns out.

While often very funny, Dust Bunny isn’t quite a comedy. It’s a fun film that successfully combines horror, violent action (though it’s not particularly bloody) and whimsical Burtonesque fantasy elements, the latter refined by colorful, imaginative production design. At its heart, however, is the charming relationship between an inquisitive child with a dark past and a hitman with an equally dark past. The banter between them is often amusing, sometimes heartwarming. Mikkelsen and Sloan are wonderful, both resisting the urge to overplay their roles. Conversely, Weaver’s exaggerated performance is kind of grating.

Then there’s the monster itself, which is both menacing and amusing (brought to life through special effects and puppetry), yet it shouldn’t traumatize your kids too much. In fact, despite the R-rating, I think most kids would get a kick out of Dust Bunny. I know one of my own kids will, but since she’s 30, her kicks will be for a different reason.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Making Dust Bunny features some cast & crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. The remaining five bonus features are basically promo spots running a minute or less.

TRAILER