Dust Bunny Movie Review (2025)
A fantasy adventure about a young girl afraid of the real monsters under her bed, Dust Bunny is a beautifully designed film, with charming performances and an imaginative, storybook-like feel.
Mads Mikkelsen has slowly added himself to my list of favorite actors. I first noticed him years ago, but it was when I watched Arctic that I got a real feel for his genius. I later watched The Hunt and Another Round (both brilliant), as well as some of his other projects, and now I’ve decided to try to watch everything he’s done. At the moment, that makes four actors I hope to do that with – Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Olivia Colman, and Mads Mikkelsen. So, here we go.
Dust Bunny is about young Aurora, a girl who is afraid to go to sleep at night because a monster lives under her bed. Her parents don’t believe her and try to reassure her that there’s nothing under there and that she’s fine. Knowing the truth and wanting help, she follows her neighbor at night and witnesses him killing what she believes is a monster. She then hires this hit man to kill her monster as well.
This is an odd movie with flair, and it never shies away from what it is. Most of the characters don’t have names, and you only know who they are because another character introduces them (“mom,” “dad,” “the lady who…”), and that goes for the hit man as well.
The visuals are rich and textural, with striking colors, patterns, and movements. One person enters an apartment in clothing made to look like the wallpaper and another, in the deep red of the window molding. Costumes are whimsical, and you are always looking forward to seeing what imaginative creation will come next.
Dust Bunny feels like a fairy tale of sorts, with a slightly eerie tone mixed with childlike wonder and earnestness. Aurora is a very serious child, far more mature than most kids her age, and she knows exactly what she wants. But while during the day, she could debate the most adept adult, at night, she is terrified. She is still a child, but you also slowly recognize that, in a situation like this, we all are, aren’t we?
Sophie Sloan and Mads Mikkelsen, who play Aurora and the hit man respectively, have excellent chemistry. I enjoyed every second they were bantering with each other. There isn’t much screentime for other characters besides Sigourney Weaver’s mysterious woman, but that works to the film’s benefit. I found that if the focus left Aurora or the hit man, I longed to see them again.
Dust Bunny is a charming adventure with great leads and mysteries that unfold slowly. There are uneven moments and some odd CGI, but it doesn’t really matter. You are so busy trying to figure out what is going on and enjoying the main characters that you can easily shrug those aside.
Runtime: 106 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Available: Free on Hulu and Max, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
