Dust Bunny (film)

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Dust Bunny
Dust Bunny film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bryan Fuller
Written byBryan Fuller
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyNicole Hirsch Whitaker [1]
Edited by Lisa Lassek [2]
Music by Isabella Summers [2]
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • September 9, 2025 (2025-09-09)(TIFF)
  • December 12, 2025 (2025-12-12)(United States)
Running time
106 minutes [3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$580,880 [4]

Dust Bunny is a 2025 American action thriller film written and directed by Bryan Fuller in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim, David Dastmalchian, and Sigourney Weaver. It follows a hit man who is approached by an eight-year-old girl to kill the "monster" under her bed that she claims "ate" her family, suspecting they were actually killed by dangerous assassins who are after him.

Contents

The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2025, followed by a theatrical release in the United States on December 12.

Plot

Eight-year-old Aurora lives in an unnamed city with her two parents, where she's intrigued by the nocturnal exploits of her neighbor across the hall in unit 5B. One night she sneaks out and witnesses him defeat a "dragon" in Chinatown — in reality, several armed gang members hiding under a dragon costume.

Aurora becomes convinced there is a monster under her bed. She warns her parents to avoid stepping on the floor, which she says will trigger its appearance, but they brush aside her concerns and attempt to soothe her. After telling them "Goodbye" one evening, she hears them being attacked and wakes up alone in a ravaged apartment.

Aurora tries to hire Resident 5B to kill the monster, as she believes he did in Chinatown. Convinced her parents were really killed by assassins who were looking for him, he tells his handler Laverne that he feels a responsibility to protect her.

That evening two hitmen arrive in Aurora's apartment. 5B kills one after a hand-to-hand battle; the other is consumed by an unseen force. As Aurora and 5B work together to hide the evidence, they narrowly avoid the questioning of Brenda, her child protection agent who informs 5B that Aurora's parents were fostering her.

Aurora becomes more deeply immersed in 5B's world. They meet with a chagrined Laverne, who reveals to 5B that she hired Aurora's attackers to remove loose ends. They also encounter an assassin who has a bounty on 5B.

The assassin and his team follow them home and converge on Aurora's apartment. Brenda returns as well, revealing that she is an FBI agent tracking the disappearance of Aurora's previous three families. 5B, the FBI, and the hitmen engage in a fierce firefight that ends when the monster — a vicious, giant bunny that emerges from the floors — consumes everyone except Aurora.

After 5B emerges from the floor, spat out by the monster due to a previously applied coating of thumb-sucking deterrent, Laverne arrives to finish the job. Before she can shoot Aurora the monster re-emerges to consume her and attack 5B. Aurora ends the rampage by standing in front of him, telling the monster, "No."

5B tells Aurora that the monster is hers and she must learn to control it. Together they leave the city to start anew. As they drive on a sunny highway, the monster is seen running alongside the car.

Cast

Production

In November 2022, it was reported that Bryan Fuller would produce and direct the "family horror film" Dust Bunny, from a script he wrote. Mads Mikkelsen signed on in a lead role. [5] In June 2023, Sigourney Weaver was reported to be in the cast. She told the New York Social Diary that she plays "another person who's not so nice, opposite Mikkelsen". [7] In December 2023, it was announced that David Dastmalchian was in the film's cast. [8]

Principal photography began in Budapest in June 2023. [9] Since the production is not part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, it was granted an interim agreement to continue filming during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. [10]

Release

Dust Bunny premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in its Midnight Madness program on September 9, 2025 [11] [12] and had its U.S. premiere at American Cinematheque's Beyond Fest on September 30, 2025. [13] It was released theatrically in the United States on December 12, 2025. [14]

Box office

As of December 18, 2025, it grossed a total of $341,283 in the United States, and $20,520 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $361,803. [4]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 84% of 90 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Elevated by Mads Mikkelsen and Sophie Sloan's magnetic chemistry, Dust Bunny is a dazzingly imaginative and stylish feature debut from director Bryan Fuller." [15] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [16]

References

  1. "Nicole Hirsch Whitaker Resume" (PDF). World Production Agency. August 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dust Bunny". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  3. "Dust Bunny (12A)". British Board of Film Classification . October 14, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Dust Bunny (2025)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Ritman, Alex (November 1, 2022). "AFM: Mads Mikkelsen to Star in Bryan Fuller's Family Horror Dust Bunny, Sierra/Affinity Selling". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  6. "BRYAN FULLER WROTE DUST BUNNY ROLE SPECIFICALLY FOR MADS MIKKELSEN". Nerdist. September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Fryd, Lee (June 9, 2023). "Social Swans and Black Birds soar at the The[sic] New York Botanical Garden Conservatory Ball". New York Social Diary . Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Nemiroff, Perri (December 1, 2023). "David Dastmalchian Joins Dust Bunny with Mads Mikkelsen & Sigourney Weaver". Collider . Valnet Inc. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  9. Hamman, Cody (June 22, 2023). "Dust Bunny: Mads Mikkelsen and Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller are in production on horror film". JoBlo . Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  10. Kroll, Justin (July 18, 2023). "A24's Mother Mary & Faith-Based Series The Chosen Among Indie Projects Given SAG-AFTRA Waiver That Allows Them To Shoot During Strike". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  11. "Roadside Attractions | TIFF Midnight Madness 2025 Includes Bryan Fuller's Feature Directorial Debut 'Dust Bunny'" . Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  12. Rebecca Rubin, "TIFF Unveils Midnight Madness Slate, Including Bob Odenkirk's 'Normal' and 'F— My Son!'". Variety , July 24, 2025.
  13. "DUST BUNNY". American Cinematheque. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  14. "Beyond Fest 2025 Review: 'Dust Bunny' Mostly Shines As A Family Friendly Hitman Horror Flick". We Live Entertainment. October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  15. "Dust Bunny". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  16. "Dust Bunny". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2025.