Niña Buena, Niña Mala

What a disappointment. A good premise and an interesting first act that leads nowhere. A film that constantly revolves around the same thing, wrapped in a web that it can't unravel, becoming repetitive, unengaging, and predictable. Grief, trauma and a sense of guilt are big themes here and they proportionate some good scenes, but it becomes too much of the same, not justifying its duration at all.

Sarah Snook tries to swim against the tide, but even she becomes tiresome, having to go in circles in this story. To top it off, an ending that doesn't reward us for anything at all. This should have been good.

Was it the best movie I've ever seen? No.

It felt a little long and drawn out, but production quality and acting was strong. Even the storyline ended up coming full circle and giving the audience resolution and answers to the questions which I really appreciated. Usually this type of movie will end up leaving you to feel confused or they'll leave you on a cliff hanger. I appreciate that things were explained and that the story made sense in the end.

I loved the creepy/eerie shots. Like when they would stare at the black hole in the fireplace or staring into the black empty dresser. I feel like the storyline compares to movies like Hide and Seek (2005) or The Watcher (2022), but it had a very dark, unsettling, eerie feeling that compared to The Witch (2015) and Hereditary (2018). It's nowhere near as scary as either or those movies, but the music and camera work had similarities.

If you enjoy thriller or horror, then I think it's worth a try. Especially with the lack of horror movies and thrillers on the market right now.

The writers tried to commingle supernatural elements with psychological thriller elements, in what ended up being a terrible sequence of events. Ultimately I found the story flat and nondescript. With a different set of hands, I think this movie could have been fulfilling and exciting.

Sarah Snook delivers a good, but perhaps unmemorable performance as the troubled mother. It got annoying to hear her shout "Mia!" every five minutes and to see her scold, physically hurt, and discipline her daughter.

Any scenes with Joan or Denise were unsubstantial. Also Mia's drawings added nothing of horror to this picture. It's a rudimentary Netflix-produced movie with a poor script and unexplained symbolism.

Saw this back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

The story is about a Fertility doctor named Sarah begins her beloved daughter Mia's seventh birthday expecting nothing amiss. But as an ominous wind swirls in, Sarah's carefully controlled world begins to alter. Australian director Daina Reid takes influence on slow-burn artsy style horror movies like "The Babadook" and tries to create a chilly horror story about ghosts, children, and past. However, despite gorgeous camerawork and a great performance from Sarah Snook, "Run Rabbit Run" suffers from inconsistent narrative and uneven pacing. Reid no doubt does offer some interesting ideas and her talents are exposed. But the problem is that the film doesn't have a clear tone what it wants to be and the positive moments are overshadowed by dull writing and really unlikeable characters.

The production design is pretty simple but it helped to create the Australian landscape setting and creepiness. The performances are a mix of good and bad. As I mentioned Snook's performance was excellent as she was able to capture the emotions of her character but the performances from Lily LaTorre and Damon Herriman while they try their best, it didn't work as their performances were over or underacted. None of the characters were really investing and some of them really comes off as frustrating and I wish they were given enough depth but unfortunately had no emotionally barring to connect with. The story provides an interesting concept and scenario but the writing struggles to maintain itself and becomes really bland and predictable. I don't mind slow pace films as I enjoy art-house and slow pace films if the writing was done well. But here, the pacing ruins much of the films tension as the uneven pacing creates more of a dullness experience rather than feeling of being scared. Australian cinema is no strange to horror films as there are some great ones out there but there are also some really garbage ones as well. Here, it's not terrible but it just didn't work for me.

Rating: C.

Sarah Snook definitely nailed the part. She was the film's saving grace. All the actors were fantastic.

But alas, this movie was just too slow. I understand the need for character development, but there were just too many disjointed holes and illogical decisions made in the plot.

Also, why is it so trendy all of a sudden to make so-called horror movies so crazily dark? Don't these people have lights in their homes?

Little, Mia, or Alice, or whomever, doesn't do anything anyone tells her, so why does her mum keep leaving her in the house and telling her not to leave? What does she think is going to happen?

The movie is a bit of a mess, but still watchable. I wound up hating the mom, lol.