Several films and independent works have been showcased at the Sundance Film Festival since its premiere. One of the movies that has been in the news these days is from a British debut director, Bryn Chainey.
His film, Rabbit Trap makes use of Celtic folklore with a unique blend of ASMR horror. The film is notable prominently due to the use of sounds and symbols as insinuations that lead further into the story.
However, reviews are coming out, saying that the film is slow enough to impress and even Dev Patel couldn’t save it. The Guardian reviewed that Chainey’s masterful storytelling tactics are definitely exceptional in spite of the movie’s overall gripping factor being low. The performances from Dev Patel, Rosy McEwen and Jade Croot, are wonderfully done but still, they did not leave a mark.
Variety mentioned in its review that the film started off with a bang, full of intrigue. Although the movie is full of “ambient sounds that are a worthwhile introduction”, the “acoustic curiosities” still did not seem to translate well with the visuals of the film. The film left the viewers at Sundance Film Festival with loopholes at why the childless couple was easily willing to let a strange child into their privacy, despite a strong performance from Jade Croot.
The plot of Rabbit Trap
The film’s settings date back to 1973 when Dev Patel (portrayed as Darcy) and Rosy McEwen (portrayed as Daphne) want to finish their next music album, for which they retreat to an isolated cabin in the Welsh countryside.
While recording for their much-wanted sounds, they record something that is not meant for human listening. It ends up with Darcy calling an ancient mystical being from the forest.
Darcy brings the audio to Daphne who instantly falls in love. However, the colour-changing chemistry between Darcy and Daphne is peculiar with the sounds that they just heard. This is where Lucrecia Dalt and Graham Reznick’s sound designing and music scores came in to create an immersive and creative watching experience.
Sound is what defines the rest of the movie. Where there are specific words they can’t say out loud to each other, Patel and McEwen outshine with their physical performances. Daphne keeps recording Darcy while he’s asleep and struggling with sleep paralysis.
They remain unknown to what they have brought until they meet a nameless child (played by Jade Croot) at their door. He educates them about the local folklore and shows his interest in rabbit hunting. However, he is on another dark mission.
A wide range of emotions emerges within Patel and McEwen regarding their parental instincts when they take care of the child. However, the layers of fear keep coming off with the growing proximity between the child and both the music artists.
The trauma that Darcy had been trying to fight in his subconscious comes back and tries to pull him down. As per Deadline, though the symbolic and magical territories are portrayed profoundly, the audience wasn’t pleased with how the polyphonic introduction didn’t sustain long enough, which somehow makes the overarching approach of Rabbit Trap mundane.
Tying up loose ends…
Dev Patel came up with his directorial debut lately with the name Monkey Man but still knows how to do magic on screen when it comes to acting. The multi-hyphenate actor gave his best to match with dark narrative and raw physical demonstrations in Rabbit Trap.
It seemed that the trio decided to give their best in the film, which they actually did, corroborated by the reviews here and there, however, the story did not know well how to take the audience’s hand and guide them through the rising auteur’s ingenuity.