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MOVIE REVIEW

RUN RABBIT RUN

A haunting idea, a captivating lead — and a film that never quite lands.

2023TV-MA100 minutesNetflixThriller
Wait for home — adults only.
ENTERTAINMENT QUALITY ★★★★ 3 / 4 A strong performance inside an underwhelming film.
FAMILY CONTENT Caution −2 on the +4 to −4 scale Not for children or young teens; even adults should weigh whether its darkness is worth the visit.
CONTENT LEVELS NONE → HEAVY
Language Moderate
Violence Moderate
Sex None
Nudity None
BEST FOR Adults and older teenagers who can handle a distressing psychological thriller.
NOT FOR Children, sensitive viewers, and anyone who may find violence involving children triggering.
CONTENT IN ONE LINE Strong foul language and menacing violence — including harm to a child — wrapped around a serious theme about buried trauma.
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Should You Watch It?

Here's the honest read. This is a Netflix psychological thriller with a genuinely powerful theme — grief, guilt, and the way a buried past reaches into the present — anchored by a captivating performance from Sarah Snook. When she's on screen, it's hard to look away.

But the film falls short of its own idea. The script is poorly executed, the storylines are unclear, and the result never lands with the force it's reaching for. What holds it together is Snook, young Lily LaTorre beside her, an eerie string score, and striking scenery.

It also earns extreme caution. There's strong foul language and menacing violence, some of it involving children, and the darkness may be distressing or triggering. So: if you're an adult or older teen drawn to serious thrillers, this is a home watch you can take or leave — and one to skip entirely if scenes of harm to a child would wound you.

The Story

NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISES

Sarah is a single mother, still grieving the recent loss of her father, trying to make her daughter Mai's seventh birthday memorable. Then a mysterious rabbit appears on their doorstep, and Mai forms a bond with it — even fashioning a homemade rabbit mask.

Soon Mai's behavior turns stranger still. She begins calling herself "Alice," the name of Sarah's long-lost sister, who vanished at the very age Mai is now. Mai insists on meeting an estranged grandmother she's never known. As Sarah searches for the truth, her own hidden past begins to surface — and that's where we'll stop.

Is It Any Good?

Three stars, and here's what they mean: a film carried almost entirely by its cast rather than its script. Sarah Snook's performance as the mother is outstanding — she hits every beat flawlessly and draws you in even when the movie around her wavers. Lily LaTorre matches her as the daughter, and the eerie string score and captivating scenery keep you present.

The trouble is the writing. The premise is intriguing, but the storylines are unclear and never find solid footing. The film reaches for the lasting impact of unresolved trauma and the destructive nature of lies, yet a lack of depth leaves it underwhelming. What could have been haunting settles for merely uneven — a movie you admire in pieces more than as a whole.

The Worldview

For all its darkness, this thriller carries a strong moral, socially conservative worldview. At its heart is a cautionary tale — how the lies we bury don't stay buried, and how unresolved guilt corrodes the present. The film even reaches toward images of resurrection. That instinct is sound: sin and secrecy don't simply vanish, and the story treats deception as something that genuinely wounds a family.

Where it stumbles is not in what it believes but in how thinly it explores it. The film gestures at the destructive nature of lies without ever finding the depth to make the lesson land. Sarah's whole tragedy grows from a truth she has hidden — and the movie's own conviction is that hiding it was the ruin.

Scripture says as much, plainly. "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). The film knows the danger of the buried lie; it can only hint at the mercy that answers it.

Movieguide® worldview codes: BB, PP, C, LL, VV, A, D, M — preserved for our database, awards research and the annual Report to the Entertainment Industry. What the codes mean →

The Content Guide

The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements

Strong moral, socially conservative worldview, with references to resurrection and tells a cautionary tale about how past lies can haunt you in the present

Foul Language

About 10 obscenities (mostly “s” words and “f” words), and one exclamatory profanity

Violence

A child party guest hits girl while playing, girl’s pet rabbit bites mother’s hand and causes it to bleed, mother slams car door and accidentally smashes daughter’s hand, mother purposely smashes her hand on the car door, mother suffers a mental breakdown and slices her daughter’s arm while cutting her hair, hallucinations include a girl drowning in a river, and falling off a cliff and being struck with a wrench, multiple images showing blood and bruises

Sex

No sex

Nudity

No nudity

Alcohol Use

In multiple scenes mother drinks a glass of wine after dinner

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse

Sarah smokes a cigarette after Mia’s birthday party, but no drugs;

Miscellaneous Immorality

Main character lies about the disappearance of her sister and is miscellaneously violent toward another character.

Talk About It

Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.

01

Sarah's whole crisis grows from a truth she buried years ago. What happens to us when we hide our sins instead of confessing them?

Proverbs 28:13 · Psalm 32:3–5
02

The film is soaked in grief over a father, a sister, and a lost past. How does Scripture invite us to carry our grief, and where does it point our hope?

Psalm 34:18 · 1 Thessalonians 4:13
03

Lies fracture this family across generations. Why does the Bible take honesty so seriously, even in our closest relationships?

Ephesians 4:25 · Colossians 3:9
04

The movie gestures toward resurrection but can't quite reach the hope it hints at. What does the promise of resurrection actually offer someone weighed down by the past?

John 11:25–26 · 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Final Word

There's a strong idea and a magnetic lead performance here, but the script never lets either bloom — and the violence, especially toward a child, makes this one to approach carefully. If you're an adult drawn to dark thrillers, this is one to wait for home — adults only, where you control the room. Looking for something the whole family can enjoy instead? Try our latest family-friendly picks.

THE VERDICT Wait for home — adults only.
Planning family movie night instead? Start with this week’s family-friendly picks →

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