Bryan Fuller at the world premiere of ‘Dust Bunny’ during TIFF 2025. Photo: Josh Korngut.
For decades, Bryan Fuller has been one of the most distinctive voices in genre storytelling. From the romantic morbidity of Hannibal to the storybook surrealism of Pushing Daisies, his work has consistently explored monsters not as distant threats, but as intimate reflections of our inner lives. With Dust Bunny, his long-awaited feature directorial debut now in theaters, Fuller brings those obsessions to the big screen in their most distilled and personal form.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year, Dust Bunny is a thriller and fantasy hybrid starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, Rebecca Henderson, and Sophie Sloan. The film centers on Aurora, a ten-year-old girl who believes a monster under her bed has eaten her family and attempts to hire her reclusive neighbor—a mysterious hitman played by Mikkelsen—to help kill the creature. As their search unfolds, Fuller complicates the premise with a quieter, more unsettling idea: that the most dangerous monsters may be the ones already living among us.
“I didn’t want to be too specific about monsters at home,” Fuller explains. “You don’t know how people are coming to the movie. I wanted it to be an interactive experience that allowed people to see as much of themselves in Aurora as they wanted to, and then have that conversation with themselves. I wanted there to be an escape, if that’s what they needed, rather than any kind of lesson. I don’t want to be medicine.”
That philosophy extends to how Fuller positions Dust Bunny within the horror landscape—particularly his affection for gateway horror.
“I love gateway horror,” Fuller says. “I love Return to Oz. I love Gremlins. I love Poltergeist. I love that Amblin brand of horror. The Goonies, while not quite horror, is definitely a thriller. Those were the movies I grew up on, and I don’t really see them in the marketplace anymore—movies that are as much for kids as they are for adults, and that adults can enjoy just as much.”
With Dust Bunny, Fuller emphasizes that emotional alignment mattered more than overt scares. “With Dust Bunny, I didn’t set out to make a horror film as much as I wanted the audience to feel what Aurora was feeling. I don’t think it’s scary enough to be a horror movie, but gateway horror is the perfect way to describe it. We talked about gateway horror a lot while developing it—it’s almost like gateway kung fu, gateway everything. It’s about opening the door.”
That sense of wonder—balanced with danger—was foundational for Fuller as a viewer. “I watched The Goonies recently and thought, ‘This is fucking crazy. It’s wonderful.’ Movies like The Goonies, Gremlins, and Poltergeist were the ones I always looked forward to each summer.”
He adds, “Were they scary on purpose, or just weird movies that ended up freaking us out? I don’t know. I went to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a kid and watched Mola Ram pull a guy’s heart out and set it on fire. I was like, ‘This is awesome.’”
That tonal balance is exactly what earned Dust Bunny a place on my Top 10 Horror Movies of 2025 list. As I wrote at the time:
“Dust Bunny is a delicious visual brunch, dialed into director Bryan Fuller’s signature fixation on detail. Food becomes a central motif again—tables lined with surreal sweets and dim sum arranged like edible sculptures, complete with rabbit designs. The production design leans into playful, off-kilter world-building: a chicken lamp laying a glowing egg-shaped bulb, ornate spaces packed with color and abstraction, and a hand-crafted charm that feels deliberate in every frame. The result lands somewhere between The Goonies and Léon: The Professional filtered through a pitch-perfect YA horror lens.
“Yet underneath the whimsy, the film settles on a clear emotional thesis: the monsters we fear most are the domestic ones, both in our homes and inside ourselves. Fuller suggests that survival isn’t about banishing them but learning to coexist—letting those shadows walk beside us rather than spending life balancing on furniture, terrified of touching the floor. It’s a real, true end-of-the-year treat.”
A New Generation Finding Bryan Fuller
While Dust Bunny marks a new chapter, Fuller is keenly aware of how his earlier work continues to resonate—particularly with younger audiences discovering Hannibal for the first time.
“Hannibal is the one that really seems to resonate with younger audiences, particularly Gen Z,” Fuller says. “What’s interesting is that so many young women are drawn to the show and to the dynamics within it. It’s queer, but not necessarily sexualized.”
He continues, “A lot of kids today identify as asexual or don’t see themselves represented in how sex and sexuality typically appear in pop culture. For them, the non-sexual romance at the heart of Hannibal becomes almost like a safe space—a relationship they can connect to without the pressure of sexualization.”
“And of course, there’s Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen in the mix—no one’s complaining there.”
For Fuller, the appeal ultimately comes down to recognition and emotional intimacy. “What I’ve noticed is that women, especially, tend to appreciate the subtlety of that dynamic in a way that sometimes men don’t pick up on. It’s really about the romance, the friend-crush aspect that takes on new meaning the more people feel seen by it. When someone truly sees you—identifies you, accepts you—that’s the most romantic thing in the world. That’s hot.”
Across television and now film, Bryan Fuller’s work continues to welcome audiences rather than repel them—using horror as a bridge rather than a barrier. With Dust Bunny, he delivers a debut that is intimate, imaginative, and deeply humane.
Dust Bunny is in theaters today from Roadside Attractions.
Categorized: Interviews News
