Run Rabbit Run: The 'Rotten' Mystery-Thriller Dud That's Blowing Up Netflix
When "Run Rabbit Run" chatter began in 2020, the project sounded promising on paper. Elisabeth Moss was attached to star in the Australian thriller, with her "Handmaid's Tale" collaborator Daina Reid set to direct. As so often happens, Olsen had to exit the film due to scheduling conflicts, but producers found a more than capable replacement in Sarah Snook.
Snook may be best known for her starring role as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy in HBO's "Succession," but her resume is padded with genre roles as well, including the sci-fi thriller "Predestination" and the period horror film "Winchester." In "Run Rabbit Run," she stars as Sarah, a fertility doctor whose 7-year-old daughter begins behaving strangely –- so strange that her behavior stirs up trauma from Sarah's past.
"Rub Rabbit Run" debuted on Netflix on June 29, and even Snook couldn't save the film's middling reviews among fans and critics. Nonetheless, "Run Rabbit Run" is No. 3 in Netflix's top 10 trending movies as of this writing, thanks in large part to Snook's performance.
Critics and fans are praising Sarah Snook's performance
Aside from a few supporters, reviews for "Run Rabbit Run" are overwhelmingly negative. Brianna Zigler summed it up for Paste Magazine, writing, "'Run Rabbit Run' never gets past the sensation of being a Mad Libs horror movie, where those blank spaces are filled in with the most obvious tropes." Critics agree, however, that Sarah Snook's performance is a highlight. "The saving grace that makes 'Rabbit' maybe worth seeing is an unkempt Sarah Snook," wrote Ryan Lattanzio for Indiewire, further noting that the actor did a terrific job as usual. Similarly, the Los Angeles Times' Justin Chang called Snook "characteristically arresting."
For viewers at home, "Run Rabbit Run" is an opportunity to see Snook front and center. It's a particularly large draw for "Succession" fans who, up until the series finale on May 28, relished in a weekly dose of award-worthy Snook performances. The need to satisfy their Shiv appetite, it seems, was a common sentiment on Twitter. "If ur having shiv withdrawals sarah's new movie titled 'run rabbit run' dropped on netflix," advised the stan account @shivroythinker. "Go give mother her coin!" Other memey "Succession" jokes followed.
For some "Succession" fans, not even a Sarah Snook master class could save "Run Rabbit Run." "Watched RUN RABBIT RUN on Netflix last night, because it's got Shiv Roy in it and looked alright from the trailer," tweeted @SeeingRedv2. "It wasn't."