My Cultural Diet

What would you do if the monster under your bed was real and ate your parents one night? For young Aurora, the solution is obvious: hire the hitman living across the hall to kill the monster. Naturally, he doesn’t believe her and chalks it up to an overactive imagination. Before too long, though, the seemingly imaginary world under Aurora’s bed will collide with his violent world of assassins in ways that no one can possibly foresee. Clearly inspired by the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Luc Besson — think City of Lost Children meets Léon: The Professional — Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny tries to be dark and twisted but also charming and whimsical. Unfortunately, it ends up being none of those things. Fuller’s film consistently looks amazing, with sumptuous sets and stylized production design, but the arch dialog soon grates, as does the acting’s calculated whimsy. Ultimately, everything about the film’s dark fairy tale tone that feels like it ought to be clever and charming just ends up feeling forced and affected.

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