Parents' Guide to Rabbit Trap

Focusing on acoustics and the world of natural (and supernatural) sounds, this British folk horror starts with great promise, but quickly loses its way in an atmosphere-soaked but blurry plot. The debut feature film from writer-director Bryn Chainey, Rabbit Trap is certainly eerie, and Croot plays the creepy child to a tee. But elsewhere the nods to the genre feel scattered and the flurry of ideas never quite come together to form a cohesive whole. Patel is as watchable as ever as a dedicated husband haunted by his past, which seems to be catching up with him further every night through terrifying recurring dreams. McEwen is equally solid in her role, though it's difficult to fully grasp any of the characters here. The sound design stands out, as promised from the start, and there are some great visual flourishes—the lush woodlands almost breathe with mythical life, flocks of birds fly in formations, and lights flicker ominously. A voice tells us: "With your eyes you enter the world, with your ears, the world enters you." Here sound leads to the thinning of the veil between our world and the supernatural. There's talk of menacing Welsh fairies, the "Tylwyth Teg," there's visceral yellow goo dripping from windows, and a prominent dead rabbit—which rarely signifies good news in a movie. There's a lot going on, but at the same time, very little. Sadly, what was initially an interesting concept seems to steadily fall down a rabbit hole into dull obscurity.