Dust Bunny

Like many children, Aurora (Sophie Sloan) fearfully believes a monster lurks beneath her bed. And she has good reason to: her foster parents have been eaten by one. Fortunately, she has arrived at a practical solution. She will hire the enigmatic hit man who lives next door (Mads Mikkelsen, also at this year's Festival in The Last Viking) to slay the beast. But procuring her neighbour’s services will not be easy, for he believes her family was mistakenly dispatched by an assassin’s bullets that were meant for him.

Savvy genre fans will be quick to recognize the pairing of a brooding killer with a precocious little girl as a nod to Léon: The Professional, but writer-director Bryan Fuller infuses his feature debut with such delightfully infectious whimsy and vibrant visual style that comparisons to the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet are more precise. Proceeding nearly without dialogue for its first third, much of this macabre fairy tale is skilfully conveyed through Sloan’s expressive features. It’s an endearing performance that brilliantly contrasts Mikkelsen’s, whose signature stoicism soulfully fractures with emotion as their unlikely circumstances escalate towards more fantastic heights.

Though a seemingly family-friendly horror fable, Dust Bunny belies a provocative darkness and fosters an idiosyncratic identity in the tradition of Fuller’s television projects, which attract rabid fan bases. That its cast further features the legendary Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters) and cult character actor David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil) confirms horror and action fans alike can expect a new favourite bedtime story to share with budding and veteran Midnighters.

PETER KUPLOWSKY

Content advisory: strobing effects, violence, frightening scenes, may frighten young children