So now all of the hoopla over the premiere is behind me I can concentrate on some of the titles that
have been screening at Toronto After Dark. I've decided that I'm going to
focus on the indies of the fest this year. First up is Aussie Luke
Shanahan's Rabbit.
Maude (Adelaide Clemens) returns to her
childhood home in South Australia when she starts having visions
about her missing identical twin, Cleo.
Rabbit had a very slow and measured
pace so I don't know if it will appeal to everyone, but I liked it
well enough. I dug that what appeared to be a backwoods horror tale
actually opened up into something more captivating about halfway
through. Shanahan's script inhabited a much more philosophical space
that, despite perhaps not answering all the questions it posed,
certainly elevated the material.
Adelaide Clemens as Maude in Rabbit. |
Aesthetically, I liked everything about
the film. The dark and blanketing score by Michael Darren had me
right into it from the get-go and the locations and cinematography
were both top notch. Shanahan definitely had a clear vision (right
down to the colour palette) of what he wanted and it showed.
Having said that, the bulk of the
reason this movie worked at all was its star Adelaide Clemens. Not
only was she playing dual roles, but they also required a wide range
of emotion. She kept me invested throughout, even during the
stretches where I wasn't sure Shanahan was leading me. In addition to
Clemens, the film was populated with a lot of wonderful and strange
players with a lot of character to spare.
Rabbit was an intriguing tale, spearheaded by solid
performance and presentation.
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