Rabbit Trap starring Dev Patel, Rosie McEwen, and Jade Croot. The story follows two musicians from the 1970s who move from the big city of London to the small village in the Welsh countryside. Soon, they start to encounter some peculiar situations. I thought the film sounded really interesting, so I went to see it. It did have some great elements, but the story confused me a lot, and I left feeling underwhelmed.
Ok, let’s talk about the pros of this film first. The technical and artistic side of this film is fantastic. I’m almost ready to give this movie 4 stars just because of how great the sound and cinematography are. The acting is also on point; all three main actors give such strong performances that they sold the experience to me. The sound design was excellent. I think a lot of people expected that since the film’s focus was on two musicians who “experimented with sound.” The cinematography was great too. The color grading was top-notch. Every shot, the framing, all the visual moments in the first three-quarters of the film felt like an art piece to me. It’s for that reason alone that I can see this film as a great cinematic experience that you should see in theaters. For the visual and auditory experience, it’s fantastic. You can close your eyes at some points and just let the music and sound wash over you.
The downfall of this film is the story, for me. The film’s story focuses on fairies and Welsh folklore. It never really becomes anything, at least in my opinion. I didn’t know much about the subject before going to see the film and was very lost and confused for a good portion of the movie. I like when a film is specific to one mythology. It just needs to take you somewhere. This film felt mired in its own confusion. The way the film’s ending concluded was a bit of a letdown too, not just the story. The cinematography and sound also seemed to fall flat and lose their touch they had throughout most of the film, making the final moments of the film seem somewhat lackluster and unfinished.
The simple truth is that I got to the end of the movie, and I was just not feeling it. I don’t care how amazing a film looks if the story doesn’t feel as though it has any care or reason behind the decisions. Yes, there is an art to not giving any reason. But to me, it doesn’t help this movie. Some moments also fell into the arms of this “drug-induced psychedelic world” which only made it more frustrating for me as I tried to figure out what was happening. Half the time, I was confused and asking myself “Is any of this really happening? Or are they on mushrooms?”
The problem is, this movie is very short, not even an hour and a half long. It really drove home to me how little of a story there was here. It really felt as though the crew wanted to put so much effort into the visuals and the sound that there was little attention given to the story, and they realized they needed something to fill out that final act. If you’re into artistic films, love brilliant cinematography, or have an interest in folklore or Welsh fairies, you might love this film. But if you are more like me, where a film needs a solid story to feel complete, you may be a bit disappointed.
I give this film a 2.5/5.
