Bunnylovr: A Not-So-Fully-Formed Reflection on Isolation

Bunnylovr
Director: Katerina Zhu
Fair Oaks Entertainment, Neon Heart Productions, Phiphen Pictures
Premiere: 01.25

As more art comes out that was developed either during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, themes of isolation and self-reflection in current media run rampant. Bunnylovr is no exception to that truth in its underwhelming 86-minute runtime. While a strong debut from director Katarina Zhu, Bunnylovr never quite sticks its landing despite the strong stances it’s trying to convey. 

Rebecca (Becca), played by Zhu, simultaneously has a whole lot and nothing going on in her life. She’s recovering from a messy breakup, drifting apart from her artist best friend Bella (Rachel Sennott, Bottoms, I Used To Be Funny) and reconnecting with her gambling-addict father William (Perry Yung, The Harvest, John Wick: Chapter 2), who informs her that he is dying and starts a tumultuous, boundary-crossing relationship with one of her clients, as her current side hustle is that of an online cam girl. One day, this client (Austin Amelio, The Walking Dead), who we later learn is named John , sends Becca a live bunny as a gift in the mail, though it comes with dark, psychosexual strings attached. Despite all the red flags and  more pressing personal life issues to deal with, Becca still decides to meet up with John in person, an attempt that is sketchy to say the least. 

Bunnylovr has so much going for it — strong writing and directing from Zhu, immensely compelling blue-light cinematography from Daisy Zhou and a talented cast who definitely understood their assignments —though Zhu can’t quite assemble all of this into making Bunnylovr the masterpiece it could be. Bunnylovr feels like it could be a modern and far less annoying Catcher in the Rye if Zhu could actually finish any of what she starts. We learn so much yet simultaneously so little of Becca, making her character, and the film’s plotline, feel underdeveloped and not quite as enticing as they should be. We’re aware there’s something here for Becca to learn in all of this mess, yet her character and the audience, never actually come to any great revelation or gain anything from Zhu’s themes of modern-day, big-city isolation and depression in a golden age of the internet and social media. Even when we get glimpses of some greatness from Bunnylovr, it’s overshadowed by the film’s inability to do what its asking of its main character, which is self-actualization. 

That being said, Bunnylovr is worth the watch, as Zhu is very clearly an up-and-coming, promising talent with a lot to offer modern audiences. She knows what life looks, feels and sounds like as an unsure young person living in unsure times. Next time, there’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll stick her landing. —Yonni Uribe

Read more of SLUG’s coverage of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.