Dust Bunny Review: Bryan Fuller’s Horror Thriller Starring Mads Mikkelsen Is More Adorable Than It Is Actually Good

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Visually vibrant and sweet like a candy store, but with a surprisingly dark and complex plot reminiscent of the film Leon the Professional – if directed with the whimsical style of Amélie – this movie is hard to categorize. Bryan Fuller’s first time directing creates a charming but often confusing experience, hampered by jokes that don’t quite land. It’s a film that likely baffled the MPAA when they tried to give it a rating.

It all starts pretty simply. There’s this girl, Aurora – she’s ten and an orphan – and she’s constantly being bothered by a monster under her bed. Naturally, her parents don’t believe her, but honestly, it doesn’t matter much because the monster gets them pretty quickly. What’s really interesting is that Aurora isn’t devastated by her parents’ fate, she’s mostly just annoyed that this monster won’t leave her alone! She’s actually really brave in a lot of ways, but of course, she is worried about becoming the monster’s next meal. Everything changes when she meets her neighbor, who lives in apartment 5B – it’s Mads Mikkelsen, and his character’s name is never even mentioned.

5B is a messy, unconventional hitman – think a sloppier version of John Wick. Aurora, tracking him one day, sees him effortlessly defeat several mercenaries in the crowded, festive atmosphere of Chinatown during Chinese New Year. From her vantage point, surrounded by large decorations, it looks like 5B is battling a dragon. Mistaking his skills for monster-slaying, Aurora impulsively steals money from her church to hire him to kill the creature that’s been troubling her.

Dust Bunny Is Too Cute For Its Own Good

The comedy in the film feels inconsistent and doesn’t always land. A lot of time is spent on the fact that Mikkelsen’s character doesn’t believe in the monster, and the film relies too much on this disbelief for laughs. There’s a running gag about him mispronouncing the name ‘Aurora,’ seemingly just to poke fun at Mikkelsen’s accent. The dialogue is often delivered in a dry, quirky style, reminiscent of a less-exaggerated Wes Anderson film. A shootout later in the movie does work well as a comedic moment, when the characters finally accept that Aurora is both intelligent and telling the truth about the monster. However, there isn’t enough genuinely funny material to support the film’s generally precious and whimsical tone.

The film’s colors are particularly jarring and unpleasant. This extends beyond the strange costumes to create a bizarre world, exemplified by Aurora’s apartment: a forest green room covered in overwhelming floral wallpaper. She avoids touching the floor – seemingly to appease a rule about dust bunnies – by propelling herself around on a purple, candy cane-shaped broomstick balanced on top of a copper pig. The action sequences are over-the-top, filled with flashing lights that feel like a sudden shift into an anime.

Despite not being able to communicate through words, a connection forms between the two. Meanwhile, 5B’s boss is pushing him to get rid of Aurora, worried she’ll reveal their illegal activities. While he doesn’t say he’s quitting his job, his relationship with Aurora is clearly causing him to question his life’s work. As threats close in – including a group of assassins led by Damian Dastalmachian, who doesn’t get enough screen time – 5B finds himself increasingly drawn to Aurora, seeing her as a daughter.

At its heart, the movie is a sweet story about a reluctant father and daughter who unexpectedly find what they’ve both been searching for. It’s refreshingly honest – the young girl, Aurora, feels like a typical ten-year-old, but she’s surprisingly mature and knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it.

Mikkelsen plays a hardened assassin who starts to question his life when he learns Aurora’s parents were accidentally killed – assassins mistook them for him. The script cleverly brings these two characters together. Mikkelsen delivers a nuanced performance, conveying much more than his lines suggest. Newcomer Sloan is also fantastic, bringing a charming, sweet, and hilariously funny energy to the role.

Viewers familiar with Bryan Fuller’s previous shows – like Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, and Star Trek: Discovery – will notice his signature dramatic style. However, Dust Bunny lacks the detailed world-building of those series, and what little it has feels heavily borrowed from other stories. Fuller himself has said he was inspired by 1980s films like Gremlins, sharing this during an introduction at a screening. Unfortunately, the film ultimately feels like a simple imitation, even down to its artificial-looking sets.

Dust Bunny screened at the 2025 Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque.

Note: This review was originally published on October 2nd, 2025.

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2025-12-02 18:58