Rabbit (2017) Review

There have been many studies into the inexplicable link between twins. There seems to be a lot of evidence that children that are born from the same mother at the same time have an unspoken connection which defies logic – almost to the point of being supernatural… Rabbit is based on this phenomenon.

Medical student Maude Ashton (Adelaide Clemens) is an identical twin, and her sister Cleo has gone missing, without leaving a trace of evidence as to where she is. As her family struggles to come to terms with the situation and fears the worst, Maude becomes increasingly convinced that her sister is still alive, and worse still – that she has been kidnapped.

Haunted by vivid dreams about her sister, Maude suffers a breakdown and travels back to Australia to be with her family and recuperate. But once there, she has more visions which reveal crucial details that might help her find her sister.

Accompanied by Cleo’s boyfriend Ralph and Henry, a friend and off-duty policeman, Maude follows her instincts to a sparsely populated region of Australia which is popular with travellers – many of them curious and happy to live away from mainstream society. With so many people and places seeming familiar to Maude, everyone is a suspect and before long she realises that her biggest challenge is to unpick the scraps of information that she is seemingly receiving from her sister and work out who to trust.

As the film progresses, things get more confusing. The intriguing opening and premise of the film does well to draw the audience in quickly, and this initial impact is reinforced with some great use of sound and unsettling scenes. These successfully throw the viewer off balance and keep them uncertain of the direction that they are being taken in, much like our main character.

The tone is bleak and desaturated throughout, conjuring a world that Maude sees little colour or beauty in. Before long, the aspects of the situation that start out odd and unsettling evolve and head more in the direction of horror as Maude and those she cares about end up captured, treated like test subjects in an unusual experiment involving torture at the hands of a cult-like group of people.

One of the surprising things about Rabbit is that it is a simple plot, but thanks to speed at which it develops and the way that small, impactful events are placed, it packs an impressive punch. Right through to the dramatic reveal in the3 final act.

What Rabbit lacks in explicit violence and gore, it makes up for with oppressive, psychological moments which lead to a constant uneasiness. Much of the intensity of the film can be put down to the very convincing performance that the lead actress, Adelaide delivers.

Though Rabbit won’t give you nightmares, it will give you lots to ponder, and perhaps lead you to take future instances of deva vu more seriously.

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Trailer: