Film Review: BUNNYLOVR: Katarina Zhu’s Pitch Black Slice of Life Takes a Walk on the Wild Side [Sundance 2025]

Bunnylovr Review

Bunnylovr (2025) Film Review from the 48th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Katarina Zhu and starring Katarina Zhu, Austin Amelio, Perry Yung, Jack Kilmer, Rachel Sennott, Malachy Cleary, Clara Wong, Sarah Baskin, Shing Moussa Chung, Annie Marie Elliot and Scott Callenberger.

If you never heard of Katarina Zhu before seeing her film, Bunnylovr, don’t worry, you’ll never forget her name after seeing this astoundingly bleak, but undoubtedly absorbing, drama about a young woman who spends most of her time on the web dealing with unusual men in various peculiar ways, sexual or not. Zhu gives a compelling performance as the cam girl in this new film whose name is Rebecca. As you watch this movie, it all seems to make a little more (and a little less) sense when you see comic actress Rachel Sennott pop up as Rebecca’s friend, Bella. Sennott is known for taking enormous risks in her comedy so it’s only appropriate she co-stars in a dark drama that takes some unparalleled artistic chances, many of which, surprisingly, pay off. However, Sennott’s presence in this film may be the last place you’d expect to find her after appearing in films like Bottoms and Saturday Night.

How unique is Bunnylovr? How many scenes in recent films have featured a character claiming to be infected with the STD known as HPV? Bunnylovr is chock full of such gritty realism that manifests itself throughout the dark cinematography and frustrating and authentic characterizations. You may walk away from this film with no other lesson other than how not to hold a bunny rabbit but watching Zhu’s vision is like watching a genius filmmaker at work. Too bad, the film is underscored by its budgetary restraints and abbreviated running time. With a little more flair and substance, Bunnylovr could have been something major to contend with. As it is, it’s a passable journey into the dark world that Rebecca immerses herself in throughout.

NYC can be a no man’s land where all hell unleashes itself and then some. Rebecca doesn’t have a good quality of life in this picture although her friendship with Bella seems strong on the surface. It’s the male characters who Rebecca associates with that complicate her life.

One man named John (what else?) is played by Austin Amelio who possesses a tremendously dark edge in terms of the way he plays his pitch black role here. Rebecca seems like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz but, through the people she meets, she discovers she’s not in Kansas anymore and that the world around her is full of dark revelations about human interaction. The bunny rabbit showcased here (called Milk) could be a juxtaposition to Toto from The Wizard of Oz except Toto never had it this rough even with the Wicked Witch close by.

Zhu expertly captures the essence of her character through her very delicate and, at times, moving performance. This is a daring role that many actresses would shy away from and Zhu hits a home run. She takes her inherited bunny rabbit to a vet after a tragic event and Zhu clearly seems to be playing this scene as if she’s living in it. There is tremendous, deep acting that one can witness on-screen in Zhu’s multi-faceted turn here.

Rebecca has a gambler of a dad named William (played perfectly by Perry Yung) who is facing difficulties in his late life. His compulsive gambling can be paralleled to the sex chats Rebecca participates in which can feel like games of Russian roulette in some instances. What Zhu brings to the table through the direction is a very intense eye for details that can escape the ordinary viewer’s grasp if one doesn’t really sit there and think about why Rebecca does what she does in the picture. There’s a reason for every choice she makes. Every move feels like one from a chess game. Rebecca seems like she’s into her situation way too deep. She’s knee deep in a pile of headaches and circumstances are floating way over her head. It remains to be seen whether she can successfully swim or not, so to speak.

It is believable that Rebecca has the job she has in the picture which is one where she works for a man who wants her to be, above all else, reliable which she fails to be by being tardy and by enduring other certain mishaps she encounters in her efforts to earn money. While Zhu runs away with the film through an amazing performance, Yung also stands out significantly in terms of the way he portrays his character and develops him. Austin Amelio is frighteningly complex in (arguably) the film’s most disturbing role. Rachel Sennott knows this isn’t her show to steal so she plays her part significantly well, overall, but without most of the humor she is so well-known and respected for.

Bunnylovr is ultimately a flawed character study. It’s too dark and too disturbing for its own good. That fact doesn’t undermine Zhu’s tremendous integrity as a filmmaker. Zhu has got the gloominess of the character she plays and that character’s surroundings down pat. Remember Fatal Attraction when the bunny rabbit got cooked in the pot? This film doesn’t have an outcome as dire as that movie’s particular plot point but this film sort of plays like a modern day Fatal Attraction for single young women who play with fire online.

Men are rather creepy at times here in this picture but Bunnylovr’s secret is that Rebecca knows what she’s getting into by doing what she does throughout the movie. She’s playing with matches and ends up getting some scars along the way. This film is gloomy but, still, impossible to ignore. It’s a calling card for film studios to help Zhu obtain a bigger budget so Zhu can capture the requisite depth that is required for a truly great character study. Nevertheless, Bunnylovr is still a good film.

Rating: 7/10

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