User reviews

It's been almost a year after her identical twin's unsolved disappearance, medical student Maude Ashton, studying overseas, is still plagued by visions of her sister being violently abducted. She believes she's alive and knows her whereabouts, as these visions seem so real. So, she returns home, inspite of everyone believing her sister to be dead. She along with her sister's boyfriend and town cop who originally worked the case, follow the clues to a derelict caravan park. There she discovers her own fate is essentially linked by the special connection shared between the sisters.

Watching this independent Arthouse Aussie psychological teaser, had me like an anxious rabbit caught in the headlights. I was never too sure what to expect, and never did I truly grasp what was fully going on. And I don't know if you're meant too either? But it did linger on my mind, long after it finished. From beginning to end, it's very ponderous and ambiguously cryptic in what seemed at first like a straight-up, peculiar rural locals hiding secrets and cult themed story, yet it becomes experimentally deranged, not over-the-top crazy, but there's a whole lot more to it. Possibly a secret society (the council) watching on, pulling the strings. Bit by bit, the shrouded mystery surrounding the missing twin sister comes to fruition, we discover what happened and why her. Although the script never expanded on the bigger picture around these unusual circumstances, like the background of this driving force and the pay-off is rather muted when compared to how it's built-up. Everything that occurs is patterned on methodical and predetermined brushes, and character actions are basically on a collision course towards fate, which brews up all kinds of twisted emotions.

I guess it can be a frustrating experience, however I was caught in two minds. While the plot had me head-scratching, it was strangely unsettling, in spite of there being little in the way of incidents and heavy on atmospheric dread. After the film during the Q&A, debut writer/director (Luke Shanahan) mentioned he found the film to have a very bold, European vibe in moods, structure and pacing. This statement felt right on the money. It was a beautifully projected presentation with arresting, and unnerving imagery. Anna Howard's percise and particular positional framing shoots up from the screen and her sweeping cinematography of the Adelaide country locations was a tool to show the stifling elements of its surroundings in hiding the truth. It's easy to get lost out there, never to be found again. So a great place to bury the truth. Even the music score gets on the act. One minute it's underplayed - then it's laid on thick with overpowering, one-note brooding synthesisers. During the quiet moments, all hell would break loose, not on screen, but when the score erupted, adding a real bombastic intensity. As for the performances, the cast were excpetional. Adelaide Clemens' emotionally tapered, dogged performance as Ashton carries you along and Verrle Baetens' mysteriously cold-shouldered performance draws you into the meticulous web.

I really want to see this one again, as I think you need a second viewing to fully soak it up and comprehend what you just experienced.

Acting was fun. Music was intense. Story was chaotic. Enjoyed it. Probably one of the weirdest films I've seen for a while. Had an awkward but engaging vibe with good cinematography and fragments of dreams and nightmares and other things going left right and centre. Real Australian vastness to it.

Rabbit could have and should have been a really good thriller come may be, horror story. But pacing, narrative and inconsistent character development mitigate against that possibility ever occurring.

The movie is held together by a compelling central performance from Adelaide Clemens playing identical twins Maude and Cleo. The rest of the cast is very good too, but Clemens shines. It's notable that the film begins to drag more in the second half, when curiously, the focus shifts away for some time, from her character(s).

The cinematography, highlighting locations around south eastern South Australia, not often seen in Australian films, is also first class.

The music mirrors the storyline, in its unevenness. Appropriately foreboding much of the time, but strangely whimsical at odd moments.

My main issues with the film lie in the narrative. Why in the production notes/plot summary immediately reveal the existence of "the Council"? Surely that story point, derivative though it may be, needed to be held back to build, rather than erode suspense. What exactly was the German connection to The Council? Surely this needed more illumination. Australian Maude returns from some time studying overseas in Germany to search for her twin. The Council clearly has some sort of German heritage which is demonstrated frequently in the film's second half ... but so what? We're never given any more information.

The character of Henry the ex(?) detective is never given any real back story, though he features quite heavily in the film's first half. Why is he so obsessed with the case of missing Cleo? He says he is. But crucially the audience is never given any real reasons/evidence for him just joining Maude on her quest at the expense of every thing else. Similarly, in the film's second half, why does so much of the action start to focus on the character of Nerida, when she is just about unseen in the first half. Yes, she is German, involved with the Council and may have had a twin herself, but again, so what? It's almost like director Luke Shanahan, felt he had to give greater prominence to experienced Belgian actress Veerle Baetens, who is undeniably good in the role.

The film's conclusion when it finally arrives, heralds one of those "is that all there is?" occasions, as the final frames mirror those of the movie's opening.

The film's producers were obviously hoping to recreate a rurally-derived Rosemary's Baby type scenario, under the Southern Cross. They only succeeded in creating a rather muted, ambiguously defined off-shoot.

Acting was good, cinematography was good, story could have been presented better. The soundtrack was intense in the wrong places and there was a terrible version of "White Rabbit" at the end.

This sounded like a very promising movie and a interesting delve into the twin connection. However, in my opinion that is not what we got. It's a very slow moving film and lacks in a storyline that keeps you engaged. There is an over use of loud music to try and shock you which doesn't work. The cinematography is nice and pretty......but I wouldn't recommend watching if you are wanting a compelling thriller.

I like films like this. Some I watch all the way through, like the one about the Russian siblings who get trapped in a haunted castle--and others scare me too much to finish, like The Oregonian. This one is a cross between the two films I have just recalled. I'm not sure what the plot was, but it was weird, and that I like.

I'm still waiting for the twist or something interesting to happen. Rabbit simply doesn't deliver.

A good plot great actors an interesting movie if you're a thinker a strange plot twist but overall a great experience

Honestly, it's a well-made movie. Acting is great, cinematography is great, even the directing is great. The issue is this a 1h 40m movie with about 40 minutes of ideas if that. If this was a short film, it would work perfectly... but it's not. It's a full-length film. And that means it has to stretch this otherwise good idea until it far overstays its welcome.

First of all, learn proper grammar if you're going to write a review.....This movie was a slow burn but an interesting concept. Being a twin myself, I was intrigued and enjoyed the ride. Do not expect gore. P.S. For the person who wanted to know the song played at a certain time..turn on your subtitles and fast forward to that point.

So let me first start off by saying I did enjoy the movie for the most part. The ending sucked because I felt like we had not gotten any real answers to any questions we had, if not it just added more to the pile. The atmosphere was creepy, there was definitely a deep mystery involved, and there was decent shots with interesting locations. But I'm so frustrated I never really got to fully understand the story. There's was definitely alot of things the directors should've filled in as far as gaps go because it just felt incomplete. I'm not sure if they were just trying to be mysterious and whatnot or couldn't figure out a decent ending but it literally made no sense. It's a decent movie but you will be frustrated. And if your sensitive to children getting hurt (which I am) your not going to like this movie. There's alot of experiments and surgeries going on with children and young adults, most of which aren't seen but the after effects are and its hard to watch.

Unfortunately a lot of Australian movies are only made to keep actors and film crews employed and this is one of them. If South Australian taxpayers didn't pay for this movie it would never have been made. The fact that the movie had a very limited release in South Australia where it was made and was shown very late at night on television two years after it's release says it all. Give this movie a miss.

Another 150 minutes of my life I'll never get back.....rubbish B movie, mood music (pipe organ) akin to old silent movies. Really...don't bother!

It's just horrible. It is boring and the plot is all over the place. Makes any B movie I've seen look like a blockbuster.

Medical student Maude Ashton (Adelaide Clemens) is haunted by her missing twin sister Cleo. She has a breakdown and returns home to Adelaide. Her investigation uncovers a conspiracy.

Nothing nothing nothing nothing oh hey something interesting the end. This has an interesting second half but it's too bad that one has to sit through a lot of nothing to get to it. The first half is way too slow. This could be an interesting Twilight Zone episode if it cut out half a movie. Most people would abandon this long before then.

Rabbit (2017) follows a woman who suffers from odd visions of her twin sister who disappeared. She peruses these visions to a desolate caravan park. This film didn't really have an original concept to begin with, but mostly wasn't engaging or gripping and I was very underwhelmed.

Firstly, the sound design was way too abrupt, messy and got obnoxious really quickly. The mixing was very poor, I found myself having to switch up the volume when characters were speaking and then quickly switch it down when the score played which was a massive distraction.

The characters weren't set up well and no performances stood out to me as the acting was somewhat basic. However, I do respect the main actress for playing both twins as that can't have been easy.

The visuals and cinematography were fairly average and I feel like the film really needed to experiment with these elements as it could've improved it a LOT. The movie just wasn't artistic enough to work as a slow-burn as there was absolutely nothing for the viewer to pay attention to. But, the vision scenes, although not long, were eerie and showed potential.

Lastly, this takes us on to the pacing. It was a very slow film, which wouldn't be too bad however it wasn't engaging and the sense of mystery wasn't strong therefore I just didn't care. There was a serious issue with the pacing and narrative, I had no idea what was going on through most of the film. It dragged and lost me quickly, with no satisfying payoff.

I want name ths song scene 43:00 plz , what's name song???? If anyone know the name , tell mee....