Dev Patel leads a surreal, arty style piece steeped in Welsh folklore.
PLOT: A married couple (Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen) residing in an remoted residence within the Welsh countryside encounter a mysterious little one (Jade Croot), whose sudden, intense devotion to them suggests one thing sinister is afoot.
REVIEW: Rabbit Entice is one other entry into Sundance’s much-celebrated midnight part, a programme which has given us such horror gems as The Babadook, Hereditary, Speak To Me, and final 12 months’s I Noticed the TV Glow. Rabbit Entice, which comes from Elijah Wooden’s Spectrevision label, is impeccably crafted and acted, however regardless of its programmed part, it doesn’t appear notably excited by being a horror movie. As an alternative, it’s extra cerebral fare deeply rooted in Welsh folklore.
In it, Rosy McEwen performs Daphne, an experimental musician who composes atonal music utilizing sounds recorded in nature by her audiophile husband, Darcy (Dev Patel). Set in 1976, they poor over their classic audio gear to place collectively these difficult soundscapes that evidently pay effectively sufficient for them to personal a good looking, distant home within the Welsh countryside. Whereas there, they meet a mysterious little one who finally endears themselves (their gender is left indirect, though the kid is in reality performed by an grownup girl, Jade Croot). Quickly, the kid begins to view them as potential mother and father – however will not be of this earth. The kid tells them of the Tylwyth Teg fairy ring, instructing them rituals and feeding them teas from vegetation within the space, solely to tackle a extra sinister tone.
Rabbit Entice is purposefully indirect, with all the movie left open to interpretation. What’s occurring within the movie might or will not be actual, with Daphne’s music not sounding of this earth, whereas Darcy is haunted by ugly nightmares which can be by no means actually defined. Additionally they reside in a really distant space seemingly with none entry to a automobile, meals, or anything to maintain them. But, the movie’s visible magnificence and immersive soundscape do certainly forged a spell, with this doubtlessly being a cult hit that will be fairly provocative if watched in the precise headspace…and on the precise substances.
Director Bryn Chainey makes an arresting debut and has assembled an impeccable forged. Patel and McEwen are a stunning pair, even when their relationship, like the remainder of the movie, is considerably obtuse and dreamlike. Croot is even higher because the otherworldly little one who emerges into their world and begins to show it right into a nightmare.
It’ll be attention-grabbing to see if a distributor picks up Rabbit Entice, as Patel’s star energy and the movie’s aesthetic ought to make it a beautiful pick-up for an adventurous distributor. Nonetheless, given how the movie performs out, it’s arduous to say who the viewers is precisely. That is the type of film that will play finest in both the arthouse or at midnight screenings for a barely stoned viewers. It’s heady stuff that’s rather a lot to soak up, and already it’s was fairly a dialog piece right here at Sundance, with it a film that might simply be interpreted in a number of other ways. For me, the movie’s first hour, which leans into the pictorial fantastic thing about DP Andreas Johannessen’s compositions and the progressive soundscape, is kind of compelling. It begins to crumble within the final half hour when it maybe bites off a bit greater than it may possibly chew, leaving many plot threads handing, however it’s additionally a movie that will doubtless profit from repeat viewings. Whereas typically irritating, Rabbit Entice is effectively price seeing for the extra adventurous filmgoer who needs one thing actually uncommon.
