Spoiler--Some might consider information in this review as spoilers. I don't think so because I don't give away the end. I do analyze and give my interpretation of the child's motivation--which is not clear in the beginning.
Dust Bunny is a strange, brilliant movie. On first viewing it seems to be a grotesque fairy tale. When I say fairy tale, I mean in the sense of the darkest Grimm story. The plot revolves around a 10-year-old girl who has a people-eating dust bunny living under her bed. After the monster has eaten three sets of parents, the child hires an assassin to kill the thing off.
Trailer:
Obviously, this is not a good vs. evil story. The assassin is a kind of monster himself, and the little girl is hardly sweet innocence. She has brought this thing into existence by wishing it would come and eat her first set of parents. These two, according to the child, did not treat her well. They were the first of successive, ill-fated foster parents. Not only does the child summon the beast to commit parricide, but she steals from a church in order to pay the assassin. Shortly after meeting him, she helps him dispose of someone who was sent to murder her.
The characters in the movie are complex. Even the dust bunny isn't all evil. This monster has come, after all, at the behest of the child, to protect the child. Definitely this is an imperfect bunny, but still, in a sense, a champion.
Dust Bunny is a horror movie, and it's funny--but you have to be ready for the humor in the midst of the mayhem.
For example, the assassin, played by Mads Mikkelsen, cannot pronounce the child's name, Aurora. This mispronunciation is a running gag throughout the film. In one scene, near the end of the movie, the monster has just eaten a pile of people. We can hear its gustatory delight as it digests. The creature is about to eat the assassin when this killer articulates...or tries to articulate...the child's name.
"Erora," he manages to say.
As she cowers under a pile of blankets, the child corrects him, calmly, "Aurora." Comedy is all about timing, and these two have it down pat.
I watched this movie twice, once last night and once this afternoon. The first viewing was a romp. I was astonished by the filmmaker's creativity. At every turn there was a surprise.
For example: the assassin wipes up drops of blood as they drip onto the floor of a public hallway. He does this with his foot, which is covered merely by a sock. The graceful, casual, motion with his foot speaks volumes about his role in life.
The assassin's handler, whom he calls, Mom, comes to the child's apartment to kill her. When 'Mom" encounters the monster she takes off her high-heeled shoes and uses them as pistols. Sigourney Weaver in this role hams it up to perfection. She calls to mind Snow White's wicked stepmother as that witch tries to tempt young Snow White with a poisoned apple.
The look of Dust Bunny is highly stylized. The social worker who turns out to be an FBI agent is wearing a vividly checkered suit, something that looks like a costume in Alice in Wonderland.
Charles Robinson. Cover, "Alice in Wonderland", 1907. Public domain
The streets are dark and moody. The elevator in the apartment building looks like something in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Check out the elevator in this trailer for the Willy Wonka film.
The first time I watched Dust Bunny through to the end was because every scene held a surprise, and I wanted to know if the child and/or the assassin survived.
The second time I watched the film was to understand what I missed. There was more going on in this film than a man-eating dust bunny, a wide-eyed child and an assassin with an odd sense of morality. There was symbolism.
I knew there was symbolism because the movie had me hooked. This wasn't simply mayhem, 1,2,3 (ex: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre). Everything important in Dust Bunny is eventually reduced to a symbol.
Names: by the end of the movie the child no longer has the name 'Aurora'. She is simply, 'Little Girl'. And the assassin never really gets a name. He is referred to alternately as 'concerned neighbor', 'resident in 5B', and 'intriguing neighbor'. Both the child and the assassin have lost their particularity. They have become symbols.
Symbolism is essential to the nature of our species. We are distinguished from other species by our use of symbols. We are the creatures who painted pictures on caves to represent thought. We write operas (some of us), and communicate with the written word...symbols.
We all know that nightmares are laden with symbolism. In the movie the dust bunny is described as something out of a child's nightmare. We know that the child was unhappy with her first set of foster parents. This child must have been miserable, helpless.
She wished upon a star for a champion, for something to free her from the unhappy circumstance. The child realizes by the end of the movie that the dust bunny is her monster. It is a product of her will. As is the assassin. He is a product of her will. She reminds him repeatedly, "I wished for you, also".
Here's a clip that shows when she hires the assassin:
The struggle between the monster and the assassin is the child's own struggle. Dark forces, her impulse to kill her parents, got out of hand and needed to be controlled. She needed to take control. She needed the assassin to fight the dust bunny, to fight her darkest impulses. It is the fight we all have within ourselves.
I know, I know... I've just ruined it for some readers. I've over analyzed. But viewers don't have to watch the movie with an eye to its symbolism. Not being conscious of the symbolic intent doesn't take from the film. I think if that intent didn't exist the film would seem more shallow, less interesting. I think we are able to understand the symbolism without articulating it.
After I watched the movie for the second time, I looked up the trailer. Trailers often give a clue as to the filmmaker's intention. There it is, at the end of the trailer: the child in charge. She is not a passive bystander. It was always her struggle, and it will be hers to resolve throughout her life. As it is for all of us.
Actors:
There are great performances all around. While the three leads--Sophie Sloan (Aurora), The Assassin (Mads Mikkelsen), and the Assassin's handler (Sigourney Weaver)--are outstanding, I was impressed also with the FBI Agent, (Sheila Atim). I usually don't enjoy child actors, because they tend to overact. This one hits a nice balance and her chemistry with Mikkelsen is charming.
I read that Sigourney Weaver received an Independent Spirit award for supporting actor in the film. I would have have given that to Mikkelsen. He is unforgettable. Also, he has a lot of action shots, where he seems to fly through the air. I learned he was a professional dancer for ten years and performs many of the physical feats himself.
The following is from IMDB:
Release Date: 2025
Director, Producer,
Writer: Bryan Fuller
I highly recommend the movie. However, if you don't like weird stuff, you will hate this. I would not recommend it to my husband. :)
I watched the movie on HBO Max.
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