Bunny Lake is Missing

Dismissed by critics (and Preminger) as being insignificant upon release, it has since earned a reputation as a cult classic. Critics such as Andrew Sarris have long championed it, and its fans have long demanded it be released on video and DVD, which it was in 2005.

Related Topics:
Cult classic - Andrew Sarris - 2005

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The film opens with Ann Lake leaving the US for a new life in London, where she plans to settle with her daughter Bunny Lake and brother Stephen. When she arrives at Bunny's new school to collect her, Bunny is not there and the school has no record of her. She reports the apparent abduction to the police, but when they fail to locate the child, suspicion mounts that Bunny never existed.

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When Stephen arrives, he supports Ann, but also undermines her in private, dropping hints that Bunny is in fact a childhood imaginary friend of hers. Ann attempts to convince the police by locating Bunny's belongings, but is frustrated when a burglary removes all traces of the child. However, she recalls that Bunny's doll is being repaired and heads off to find it. Stephen destroys the doll and it soon becomes apparent that he has something to hide.

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Ultimately, Ann finds Bunny in the now visibly disturbed Stephen's car and faces a night distracting him from murdering both herself and her daughter before the police finally arrive to take him away.

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An interesting performance in film features Noel Coward as Horatio Wilson, a sadistic, whip-loving barman.

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A Hollywood remake of the film, starring Reese Witherspoon, was being planned as of 2004.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Reese Witherspoon - As of 2004

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