Bunny drops us into a single, sweltering summer day in a cramped tenement where Bunny (Mo Stark) hustles his way between neighbors, petals of chaos unfurling with every knock on his door. When a routine gig turns deadly, Bunny and his loyal sidekick Dino (Ben Jacobson) must scramble to conceal a corpse while keeping the building’s eclectic inhabitants from spiraling into panic.
As a first feature from Jacobson—who also co-wrote and co-stars—Bunny wears its indie roots on its sleeve, channeling the raw energy of downtown Manhattan’s guerrilla filmmaking past. The Steadicam roves through cluttered hallways and crowded rooms, letting us catch glimpses of tenants juggling petty dramas, impromptu parties and two munchie-addled cops circling like cartoon vultures.
This off-the-cuff ensemble comedy-drama moves at a breathless pace, each long take doubling as a narrative beat: a comedic aside here, a tense hide-and-seek there, all stitched together by a pulsating soundscape of sirens, laughter and shouted instructions. Beneath its caper veneer, the film pulses with genuine warmth—Bunny’s empathy for his neighbors emerges in small gestures that linger emotionally long after a punchline lands.
If you miss the electric unpredictability of indie New York cinema, Bunny promises a ride that seesaws between frantic humor and authentic human connection, leaving you eager for what this spirited filmmaking duo tackles next.
Woven Halls of Urban Life
The tenement feels alive, its narrow corridors and stacked apartments unfolding like levels in an indie adventure. Steadicam shots drift through cluttered living rooms and cramped kitchens, each long take offering a live-wire view of neighbors tending to everyday tasks—a tenant hauling laundry, someone rigging party lights, another scribbling on a graffitied wall. These uninterrupted sequences carry narrative weight much as seamless camera movement can mirror fluid gameplay, placing us at Bunny’s side as he weaves through the building’s pulse.
Outside, East Village energy spills in. Street vendors hawk quick bites, Citi Bikes clatter on asphalt, and distant sirens punctuate rooftop laughter. Echoes of traffic and overheard conversations create an aural tapestry that immerses the viewer, recalling how a game’s ambient soundtrack can transform familiar spaces into compelling worlds.
This all unfolds over a single, blistering afternoon. The sun’s glare presses on every scene, time ticking like a mission timer pushing characters into hasty choices. As deadlines mount—whether to hide a body or calm a worrywart landlord—the film’s pace tightens, trading idle moments for urgent flurries. Pressure sparks both comedy and tension, reminding us how pacing shapes emotional stakes, much like timed challenges in narrative-driven games.
Chaos Under the Clock
Bunny kicks off with a sudden burst of violence: our lead hustler dispatches a client in a split-second confrontation, then slips back upstairs to face his own handiwork. That abrupt shift—violent act segueing into domestic tension—sets the rhythm for the rest of the film. It mirrors how a tight game tutorial plunges you straight into action, forcing you to adapt on the fly.
From there, complications pile up with the speed of a runaway train. Bunny and Dino scramble to conceal their first victim, only to stumble on another tenant’s overdose. Each mishap feels like an unexpected enemy ambush in an indie title where you thought you’d cleared the level. The film threads these events through long takes that let urgency build organically; there’s no hiding behind fast cuts, so anxiety hangs in the air until you nearly catch your breath.
Interruption arrives in comic form when two cops, high on munchies, saunter through Bunny’s hallway, craving burgers and gyros instead of clues. Then the landlady peers around a corner, and Bunny’s father-in-law bursts in, demanding answers. These detours heighten stakes much as side quests can derail a game’s main campaign, yet here they reinforce character bonds—the cops become unwitting helpers, the landlady shifts from antagonist to uneasy ally.
All paths converge at the birthday party finale, a single-room gauntlet where tense whispers, slammed doors and near-exposure moments collide. It recalls the claustrophobic finale of Barry Jenkins’s If Beale Street Could Talk, where confined spaces amplify emotional stakes. As secrets unravel, Bunny and Dino dodge suspicion in one last gambit—the viewer wonders if escape is skill or sheer luck.
When dawn breaks, we glimpse our pair walking away through empty corridors, their fate left dangling like an unanswered side mission. The ticking clock never truly stops, inviting us to imagine what comes next.
Faces in the Fray
Mo Stark’s Bunny is equal parts brawn and compassion. His surfer-dude physique and windblown hair give him a rugged presence, but his eyes reveal vulnerability whenever a neighbor calls for help. That duality—tough exterior, caring core—anchors the film’s emotional stakes. In one key moment, he pauses mid-escape to steady a wobbling light fixture, a small gesture that speaks louder than frantic dialogue. It’s reminiscent of Ellie’s quiet heroism in The Last of Us, where strength coexists with tenderness.
Ben Jacobson’s Dino offers a perfect counterpoint. He’s a walking glitch in Bunny’s smooth code: scattershot laughter, absentminded resourcefulness and steadfast loyalty. Watching him fumble through MacGyver-style corpse concealment feels like guiding a friendly NPC through a side quest—endearing but exasperating. Jacobson’s dual role as actor and director pays off in subtle timing; his beats sync with Stark’s rhythms, suggesting an improvisational rapport that lifts the ensemble.
Linda Rong Mei Chen’s landlady blends no-nonsense authority with surprising warmth. When she corners Bunny over a missing rent check, her stern tone softens into genuine concern—an emotional pivot that grounds the film’s zaniness. Ajay Naidu and Liz Caribel Sierra play the local cops with perpetually snack-driven detours, their deadpan delivery evoking classic Laurel and Hardy interplay but infused with contemporary edge.
Liza Colby’s Bobbie shifts from festive planner to worried spouse with seamless transitions, her bursts of frustration counterbalanced by unwavering support. In contrast, Genevieve Hudson-Price’s Orthodox guest and Tony Drazan’s father-in-law introduce cultural friction that deepens the narrative tapestry, harkening back to the layered character work in Moonrise Kingdom.
Even brief cameos carry weight. Richard Price’s hushed readings and Eric Roth’s bemused bed-bound presence inject real-world texture, celebrating East Village lore as effectively as environmental storytelling in top-tier indie games. Their authenticity reminds us how veteran voices can enrich a living world, leaving us curious which neighbor we’d trust to guide us through the next day’s trials.
Crafting Chaos in Frame and Sound
Jackson Hunt’s Steadicam work threads through Bunny’s tenement like a restless companion, capturing unfolding action in wide, uninterrupted sweeps. As Bunny darts from hallway to living room, the camera maintains spatial clarity—walls, doorframes and clutter never feel like obstacles but integral parts of the narrative maze. In moments bathed in natural daylight, we sense the weight of a scorching afternoon; when characters slip into dimly lit rooms, table lamps and neon signs carve out pockets of intimacy that heighten both humor and suspense.
Editing shifts between languid tracking shots and rapid-fire cuts when panic peaks. A single take lets tension build organically—neighbors mill about, conversations drift—until a sudden splice accelerates us into frantic corpse-hiding antics. That rhythmic contrast mirrors Bunny’s erratic state of mind, much as pacing toggles in narrative-driven games signal shifts from exploration to combat.
Sound design stitches this framework together. Street chatter seeps in through cracked windows, police radios buzz with off-key banter, and party music bleeds under snippets of urgent dialogue. Moments of silence, like the beat before a door opens, land with an emotional thump. The sparse score emerges at key beats—punctuating comedic timing or nudging us toward a more anxious register.
Production design elevates everyday objects into story drivers. A battered pizza box doubles as ad-hoc evidence bag, and a stray pill bottle becomes a visual echo of Bunny’s cracked composure. Subtle ’90s nods—an old transistor radio, vintage concert posters—anchor the film in indie heritage without shouting period details.
This interplay of lens, cut and sound transforms a cramped building into a dynamic arena, inviting us to wonder which cinematic choice most shapes our connection to Bunny’s roller-coaster day.
Ties That Bind—and Unravel
Bunny’s tenement feels like a living organism, each neighbor a vital cell in its ecosystem. From laundry runs to light-hanging chores, residents lean on Bunny’s informal handyman services, highlighting how community emerges when official support collapses. It recalls how co-op mechanics in indie games—where players craft tools from scraps—create shared purpose from limited resources.
Yet survival in this micro-society blurs moral lines. Bunny’s willingness to shield a killer or dodge law enforcement raises questions about the hustler’s unwritten code. When does loyalty to your block justify bending ethics? It mirrors choice systems in narrative RPGs, where protecting allies sometimes demands morally gray decisions, forcing players to weigh compassion against self-preservation.
Chaos here reads as celebration. The film revels in disorder—party streams collide with siren wails, impromptu alliances form amid carnage—evoking the gritty authenticity of a gentrifying neighborhood that resists tidy storytelling. Like cult films such as Gummo, Bunny embraces uneven rhythms to capture life’s raw edges, urging us to find beauty in unpredictable chaos.
Finally, the birthday frame casts Bunny’s ordeal as rite of passage. Each unfolding crisis tests his mettle, nudging him toward growth or deeper entrapment within his whirlwind world. As dawn approaches, we wonder if this day reshapes him—or ties him more tightly to the building’s endless spin.
Laugh Lines and Heartstrings
Bunny’s comedy lands in the sweet spot between slapstick and dark humor. A pair of corpses tossed into a party scene earns genuine laughs, while a cop duo munching on gyros delivers a running gag that never loses its bite. When one officer deadpans, “You two look like Thor and Eminem,” the quip punctures tension with a grin. Yet the film never treats chaos as mere farce; each pratfall or wisecrack feels anchored in living stakes.
That interplay of tension and levity shapes the pacing. After a breathless chase through cluttered hallways, the camera pauses on Bunny catching his breath—an intentional lull that lets doubt and dread seep in. Then, a sudden mishap—a shattered lamp or a surprise knock—jerks the narrative back into manic gear. These rhythm shifts mirror memorable sequences in narrative games where players alternate between high-octane encounters and quiet exploration, heightening both the thrills and the flavor of small moments.
Viewer alignment slides between observer and participant. Wide shots of a cramped living room stage the unfolding madness like a watching neighbor, while over-the-shoulder angles drop us into Bunny’s frantic decision-making. We carry the weight of his choices, much as we might weigh moral forks in a story-driven RPG. That dual perspective keeps engagement sharp: we’re amused by comic chaos but never detached from Bunny’s moral tug-of-war.
Amid the laughs, genuine warmth blooms. A startled tenant offering a silly apology or a neighbor’s grateful nod grounds the frenetic comedy in community care. In those fleeting moments, humor yields to empathy, reminding us that behind every joke lies a pulse of human connection—one that lingers long after the punchline fades.
Full Credits
Director: Ben Jacobson
Writers: Ben Jacobson, Mo Stark, Stefan Marolachakis
Producers: Sarah Sarandos, Scott Dougan, Ben Jacobson, Mo Stark, Stefan Marolachakis
Executive Producers: Brian Healy, Garret Levitz, Charles Miller
Cast: Mo Stark, Ben Jacobson, Liza Colby, Tony Drazan, Linda Rong Mei Chen, Genevieve Hudson-Price, Liz Caribel Sierra, Ajay Naidu, Richard Price, Henry Czerny
Director of Photography (Cinematographer): Jackson Hunt
Editor: James LeSage
Composer: Hamilton Leithauser
The Review
Bunny
Bunny’s roving camera, chaotic set pieces and genuine moments of neighborly care capture the spirit of indie New York cinema. Mo Stark and Ben Jacobson deliver performances that blend humor with heart, while Jackson Hunt’s long takes immerse us in tenement life. Though the story occasionally loses steam, its vibrant atmosphere and emotional core leave a lasting impression.
PROS
- Immersive Steadicam camerawork that brings the tenement to life
- Strong chemistry between Mo Stark and Ben Jacobson
- Rich sound design weaving street ambience with dialogue
- Genuine moments of neighborly compassion amid chaos
- Clever balance of dark humor and suspense
CONS
- Pacing occasionally flags in middle acts
- Plot relies on coincidences that stretch credulity
- Some supporting characters remain underused
- Tone shifts can feel abrupt
- Climactic payoff offers few surprises
