Dust Bunny

This popped up on my HBO Max over the past few days and the description made me curious. I didn't know what to expect, but I expected a fun, if forgettable, time. Little girl hires an assassin to kill the monsters under her bed. Yeah, that's got legs. It turned out I wildly under-estimated the creativity and heart in this movie. I could never have expected Leon The Professional meets Matilda being so damned charming, so imaginative, and yet have such an endearing nature at its core. Dust Bunny is the kind of movie that's best to go in blind and let its creativity wash over you. What I will say is this: if you're looking for s grounded movie, you're in the wrong place. The line about Leon The Professional meets Matilda is not an exaggeration, but it also doesn't do Dust Bunny justice. It clearly takes place in a fantasy world, one not entirely unlike our own, stylized just enough to know this isn't our world, but not so removed that it doesn't feel tangential. The visual language of the movie is familiar -- you'll see elements of 90's kids movies, with the use of wide angle lenses and uncomfortable close-ups -- but there's other touches that make Dust Bunny its own. All of that compliments the movie's costuming and set design, which is equally familiar and distinct. But what separates this from so many other movies that are style over substance are the characters. Dust Bunny is anchored by the unusual blossoming relationship between Aurora (played by Sophie Sloan), a ten year old girl, and her unnamed hitman neighbor, played by Mads Mikkelsen. Other characters come and go, but it is these two upon whom the movie turns, and every minute they're together is magical. The contest of wills, the playful banter, and the way they grow as people together and because of each other is a joy to behold. And as the story unfolds and the layers of the characters are peeled back, the movie reveals how much these two people needed each other. Dust Bunny may be, on first blush, about monsters both real and fantastical, but it's also about filling the hole in one's heart. What's all the more impressive is that Dust Bunny pulls this off without resorting to what you'd expect from the description. There's no John Wick-style hyper-violence, no swearing, and, since Leon The Professional is an undeniable influence, none of that movie's more icky overtones. There isn't a single profanity or drop of blood. There was genuine effort at making this a family picture, albeit one with an edge. Maybe not as dark as Return To Oz, but it's a lot farther away from Spy Kids. Maybe not six year olds ... but eight or nine? Sure, I could see it. I kept waiting for the bottom to fall out on Dust Bunny, and it never did. I was charmed from beginning to end. I wanted to sweep Aurora in my arms and hug her and never let go, and I wanted to clap Mikkelsen on the shoulder and say "that's some good dadding there". I loved getting swept away by the imagination put into the world, and the teases of what lay outside the borders of what I could see. I adored this movie, and I could see myself watching this movie over and over.