You ever catch a trailer that feels like it was built in a fever dream? Bryan Fuller's Dust Bunny—his long-awaited leap from television mythmaker (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) to feature director—arrives with that kind of pulse. It's playing Midnight Madness at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival this week, which makes sense: where else do you unleash a story about a 10-year-old girl hiring her hitman neighbor to kill the monster under her bed?
And here's the kicker: the neighbor is Mads Mikkelsen, looking every bit like a man who's already danced with demons—real and metaphorical. Opposite him, young Sophie Slone plays Aurora, the kind of kid character horror cinema usually oversimplifies, but here she looks poised to steal the damn movie.
Fuller isn't exactly dipping his toes into horror for the first time. His fingerprints are all over genre television, from the grotesque poetry of Hannibal to the bright absurdities of Wonderfalls. But cinema demands a different rhythm, and the trailer shows him leaning hard into stylization: assassin shootouts, fairy-tale shadows, Sigourney Weaver lurking like a dark fable's oracle. Gorgeous. Grating. Gorgeous again.
There's a genre blend happening here that's too messy to ignore. On paper, Dust Bunny sounds like a cocktail of Leon: The Professional and Pan's Labyrinth, shaken with Fuller's own appetite for the uncanny. One moment it's a stylish hitman thriller, the next it's a child's nightmare given flesh. Maybe that's the point—monsters aren't neat categories. They spill over. They confuse.
Release timing matters. Roadside Attractions has locked December 5, 2025, for the U.S. theatrical debut, which means it's angling for horror audiences and, potentially, awards-season fringe buzz. By then, word-of-mouth from TIFF—and likely a few other horror-friendly festivals—will decide if this is a cult darling or a stylish misfire.
Watching the trailer, I kept thinking: the violence here isn't clean. It's sweaty, desperate, oddly tactile. Everyone looks like they've been awake for three nights. Maybe they had—one overheard quip from a festival programmer claimed the choreography for a key fight was redone three days before cameras rolled. Wouldn't surprise me.
Anyway. Back to Mikkelsen. He has that rare ability to be terrifying and tender in the same frame. He did it in Hannibal, he did it in Another Round, and here, he's tasked with embodying both a hired killer and a reluctant protector. That paradox—the neighbor who kills monsters but maybe is one—feels like Fuller's thesis in miniature.
So, should we be excited? Absolutely. Should we be cautious? Also yes. Fuller's vision is rarely for everyone, and Dust Bunny looks like a midnight fairy tale that refuses to tuck you in. I'll take that gamble.
What Stands Out About Dust Bunny
Fuller's Directorial Leap
After years shaping cult TV, Bryan Fuller finally takes the plunge into features—without diluting his signature weirdness.
A Killer Pairing
Mads Mikkelsen and Sophie Slone anchor the film with an uneasy bond that blends fairy tale innocence and blood-soaked pragmatism.
Genre Collision
Expect gunfights and monsters in the same breath—a hybrid of hitman thriller and nightmare fable.
Festival Launchpad
Premiering at TIFF 2025 in Midnight Madness, it's positioned squarely in the cult discovery zone.
Release Strategy
Roadside sets the theatrical run for December 5, 2025, betting on horror's winter grip.
