Run Rabbit Run (2023) Far Away from Mediocre Netflix Psychological Horror
Title: Run Rabbit Run
First Non-Festival Release: June 14, 2023 (Digital/Streaming Platforms)
Director: Daina Reid
Writer: Hannah Kent
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Starring: Sarah Snook, Lily LaTorre, Damon Herriman
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
For many people, it can be difficult to face the trauma of their past, especially if they never properly healed from their wounds. Putting distance from their past life and themselves becomes the only coping mechanism proven to protect their peace. What happens when there is no other choice but to confront it?
Soon after Mia (Lily LaTorre) turns seven, her mother Sarah (Sarah Snook) begins to identify a series of concerning behaviors in her child. Fearing that she might be getting bullied at school or experiencing some other health issue, she desperately asks Mia to share what is bothering her. All Mia can do is repeat her desire to meet Joan (Greta Scacchi), Sarah’s estranged mother. With so many aspects of her life crashing down, Sarah finds herself battling against her daughter’s delusions and attempting to free Mia from this obsession leading to her own secrets spilling into the open.
Well-acted yet tedious psychological horror film Run Rabbit Run borrows heavily from better films.
As with any horror film the initial mystery slowly turns to tedium thanks to its generic narrative and obvious reveals. From the beginning of Run Rabbit Run the audience knows something is going to happen regarding Mia and Sarah's relationship. What starts as loving and healthy turns to secretive and neglectful when Sarah believes Mia is hiding something important to her relating to Sarah’s mother Joan.
A deeper metaphor for parent’s tendency to withhold potentially upsetting information from their children, this refusal to speak plainly with Mia ultimately puts a wedge between their relationship indefinitely. This continues until Mia learns more about what happened to Sarah growing up while Sarah comes to terms with the events as well. With each twist brings an added element of familiarity that makes it hard not to see the ending coming from a mile away. Familiarity isn’t a crime, but it certainly doesn’t elevate the film either.
What’s more, it feels like Run Rabbit Run doesn’t know what it wants to be any more than the audience knows. So much is going on in Sarah’s life that it is difficult to not to understand her stress. Her ex-husband’s wife repeatedly inserts herself into her home, the passing of her father leads to her needing to interact deeper with her estranged mother, and her daughter begins exhibiting the aforementioned strange behavior. The problem arises when two of these stressors either barely tie in with the issues or leave out key details that might bring more meaning to it. Run Rabbit Run spends so much time reminding the audience that Sarah doesn’t want to see her mother but pushes back every chance it gets when she is confronted with it. Denise encroaches twice in the first half of the film then disappears completely afterwards. Is there a point beyond the irritation she stirs or does this just serve to add to Sarah’s distress?
Deliberate filmmaking or not, Run Rabbit Run suffers from heavy repetition and sluggish pacing. Sarah’s constant hallucinations and Mia’s creepy behavior fails to leave the necessary impact. Aside from one excellently choreographed scene with scissors, the scares are flat and lifeless, often relying on the same tired imagery of children’s scary drawings and a misshapen bunny mask. Mia’s constant shifting from her usual self to her Alice personality calls into question Sarah’s psychological state but the randomness at which it arrives make it difficult to follow. The unreliable narrator trope justifies this somewhat, but it doesn’t cover for how convenient it is implemented into the plot.
The saving grace of this Aussie familial horror film is its excellent cast who elevate the material far beyond its thin foundation. Sarah Snook leads the film reliably as her character gradually succumbs to insanity. As the audience gets a better idea of what led Sarah to spiral, Snook unravels genuinely. It’s hard not to feel empathy for Sarah when Snook is so good at conveying her distress, which is a win for Snook but also the narrative too. Tasked with the difficult job of acting as both a source of horror and fear, Lily LaTorre does a commendable job for such a young actress at vacillating between the two. The devastating looks LaTorre gives Snook in between the episodes are powerfully authentic.
Even the most patient viewer will find themselves tapping their foot by the third act of Run Rabbit Run. Its slow burn approach to a familiar tale of familial horror fizzles out before it can really catch fire. Strong performances from its leads do their best to offset the thinness of the script. Fans of psychological horror or clear metaphorical genre films may find enough to feel satisfied. Those seeking more bite out of their horror may want to run elsewhere for thrills.
Overall Score? 5/10
