To misappropriate a tropey review flourish, The Babadook walked so Run Rabbit Run could crawl. Not that Run Rabbit Run has a monster in the cellar (though it would have benefited from one) but it does have a similar frazzled mom and a kid who could really use a span…. uh, I mean a time out (for, like, ever).

The flick stars Sarah Snook as a mom dealing with this bratty little kid who wants a rabbit and refuses to remove a crappy rabbit mask. And acts creepy and insists she’s someone else.

And then the movie just kind of meanders around for a long time in an unmoored attempt to find the plot. It’s too unfocused for its own good, taking over half the movie to figure out what kind of move it ultimately even is. It asks us to be creeped out when its wildly hazy as to what we’re meant to be creeped out about. And, even when it figures that out, it’s unclear what exactly is happening… if any of it is happening at all.

On the positive side, it’s filmed exceptionally well and sometimes has a creepy atmosphere. Sarah Snook does a great job as the frazzled mom and the number of time outs the kid should get suggests she’s nails her job too.

But none of it matters when the film circles the drain of its own point. It’s so focused on ambiguity, it’s hard to really connect with the character’s emotional scars. It’s a well-produced film with a script that needed some work and/or original ideas.

Score: 65