Brian Fuller I have never directed a full-length feature film. Multi-talented creator and showrunner of some of television's most inventive and boundary-pushing shows. Dead like me, pushing daisies, Hannibal, American Gods, Star Trek: Discovery — I’ve never made a full-length film on the big screen. Fortunately, this injustice has now been corrected. Dusty Bunnya touching, superbly acted, action-packed horror-fantasy film about a hitman the likes of which only Fuller could make.
The premise is simple and fantastic: Aurora (Sophie Sloan(in her own feature-length debut), there's a monster under her bed—an evil giant dust bunny lives under the floorboards, eats her parents, and threatens to come for her next time. In desperation, Aurora asks her intriguing neighbor (the eternally perfect Mads Mikkelsen), a hired hitman to kill him for her. To say more would be a disservice to Fuller's touching, mysterious and crazy script.
Fuller doesn't tell us that Mikkelsen is working as an assassin, he shows us; he doesn't explain what the monster does in dialogue, he shows us. Its narrative arc and storylines don't rely on narrated exposition or cinematic clichés, and that alone is cause for celebration.
A touch of the gothic complements Fuller's neon-soaked New York, the gritty streets and Art Deco apartments (courtesy of production designer Jeremy Reed), lovingly captured through fluid, soaring and often restless camerawork. A generous dose of magical realism makes it easy to suspend our disbelief as the monster under the bed becomes more and more visible. “Stay off the floor” becomes a necessary mantra that Aurora repeats to any visitor. She herself travels around the apartment on a giant, rolling brass hippopotamus.
Fuller presents us with long sequences of dialogue-free action, both subdued and bombastic, including an extended, flashy early chase scene where Aurora follows Mads across rooftops, alleys and through Chinatown during one of his missions. Shades of Coppola and Fincher appear, as well as Leon (though less creepy). However, the most obvious influence is French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet: the film owes much to the director's visual effects and cinematography, especially the canted, vertiginous camera angles. Amelie (Fuller's favorite film) and “Delicacies”, which give the film a fairytale look and atmosphere.
As a first-time director, Fuller suffers from some cinematic excesses, indulging in unnecessary and distracting details that rely on composite shots rather than cameras: a view from inside an elevator panel through its translucent number; key mechanism turning inside the lock; a camera falling through the floorboards through a bullet hole. Such shots must look great but end up flat, and while it's certainly a bravura movie, Dusty Bunny also ends up being hyper-stylized by mistake. Fortunately, such moments are few and far between.
Fuller gives us plenty of well-choreographed action and bloodshed, but some of these scenes, especially early on, are bogged down by overly complex CGI and camerawork. Conversely, these scenes work best when he lets the actors perform and the action unfolds with less frequent and frantic editing. A tense hallway fight between the Intriguing Neighbor and the would-be killer continues with crunching limbs and clenching throats, while the climactic action sequence uses long tracking shots and continuous takes to build tension, horror and resolution.
The superb soundtrack, courtesy of Isabella Summers, has an eerie and melodic underpinning with a hint of creepiness in the plucked pizzicato bones. Nicole Hirsch Whitaker's solid cinematography and Lisa Lassek's editing enhance Fuller's wild, demented vision.
The cast is ending David Dastmalchyanthe mysterious and suave mustachioed killer known as the “Expressively Inconspicuous Man”; Rebecca Henderson, another killer nicknamed “The Frightening Woman”; Sheila Atim, who plays Brenda, a social worker; And Sigourney Weaver like Laverne, the equally intriguing employer of the Intriguing Neighbor. Everyone is involved in the game, and this is important for a film where the monstrous and fantastic are intertwined with the real world.
Yet Sloane undoubtedly stands out as a star. She carries the film like a seasoned professional, her acting prowess already years ahead of many of her adult peers. She expresses emotion with her face (shocking, right?) and her performance is simply impressive. When the monster finally rises for the final showdown, Aurora shows her terrifying desperation bordering on hysteria, and Sloane perfectly embodies her fears. Despite Dusty Bunny marks her big screen debut, she more than holds her own against Mikkelsen, Weaver, Atim and Dastmalchian, a tall order for any actor, let alone a child. Sloan does it flawlessly.
Fuller treats the countless scenes between Mads and Sloane with particular admiration for both performers: Sloane's subtle facial expressions contrast with Mikkelsen's steely demeanor. Fuller has a penchant for dark comedy, and one particularly great scene finds Aurora in a church with a scarf on her head and large sunglasses. She steals a donation plate to “order his services”, writing the contract in red pencil. Kids these days are so resourceful! He asks her how she knows the word “provide”. “A word-a-day calendar,” she replies simply. Just perfect.
What can we say about Mikkelsen, one of the best actors of our time? He plays with dignity and danger, subjecting his body to pain and violence in one scene and then switching to a gentle and empathetic father figure in the next, their relationship based on empathy and care. At one point, the Intriguing Neighbor tells her, “I’m trying to understand it the way you understand it.” Mikkelsen fills his voice with weary seriousness, Intriguing Neighbor weary of his cruel calling and this new, unexpected responsibility. And yet it is an amazing feeling that deserves to be expressed more often than it actually is.
Throughout the film, Fuller infuses the interactions between Aurora and the Intriguing Neighbor with frustration, love, and care. Like all children, she is innocent but cruel in nature; he's almost the same. In a recurring joke, he mispronounces her name and she corrects him (it sounds the same). This back and forth later reaches its inevitable climax, resulting in one of the film's sweetest and sweetest moments. awww– inspiring moments. Another scene where she holds his hand and smiles while he remains ever vigilant shows the spiritual side in an evil form.
The creature itself – a giant puppet controlled by multiple performers and perhaps a bit of CGI – is a manifestation of Aurora's pain, fear and trauma that literally and figuratively tries to consume her and everyone she loves and tries to protect. Very similar to the parable of the Brothers Grimm. Dusty Bunny takes those feelings of doubt, self-hatred, fear and worthlessness and channels them through a being both fuzzy and grotesque, embodying the burden we all must live with and struggle with – children, adults, everyone.
Whimsical and tender, the film explores trauma and recovery through beautifully realized images and characters, while presenting an original, heartfelt and surprisingly funny dark urban tale. The films bring a breath of fresh air to a stagnant and often cynical cinematic landscape.
WITH Dusty BunnyBryan Fuller successfully presented a powerful allegory of collective healing. There is a monster under each of our beds, but resistance is not futile. Each of us has the power and strength to contain the monster, to control it, to master it. It's catharsis. Recovery can be scary, but that's part of recovery. It's beautiful and brutal and scary and it's real. Just like Dusty Bunny.
