Rabbit Trap Review – Dev Patel and Rosie McEwen Unearth Folk Horror on the Moors

Dev Patel and Rosie McEwen retreat into the fog for Bryn Chainey’s eerie folk horror, Rabbit Trap.

Dev Patel steps into the fog-drenched world of folk horror in Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap, a film that first stirred attention at Sundance and now arrives via Magnet Releasing on October 19. Patel stars alongside Rosie McEwen as Darcy and Daphne Davenport, a London musician couple retreating to a secluded Wells cottage to create a new sound. Darcy, the producer and sound engineer, works hand-in-hand with Daphne, whose voice and presence serve as both muse and vessel for their art.

The early sequences pulse with creativity—field recordings, distortions, and layered soundscapes that double as character. For fans of ASMR-style sound design, these moments are hypnotic. But the film pivots once the mysterious child (played by Jade Croot) enters, introducing an eerie presence that at first feels like a potential disruptor, but instead amplifies the couple’s fever-dream descent.

As folk horror tradition dictates, the moors and natural landscapes swallow the frame, courtesy of cinematographer Andreas Johansen and art director Alex Nikolaidou. There’s “scenery within the scenery,” as if every shot hints at deeper folklore, but the familiarity of sheep, crows, and weathered farmland risks falling into the well-worn grooves of the genre.

Clocking in at 87 minutes, Rabbit Trap wastes little time, but its effectiveness hinges on how much dread the audience is willing to buy into. Patel and McEwen deliver convincing performances, with Jade Croot adding an uncanny balance of innocence and menace. Yet for all its dreamlike mysticism, Chainey doesn’t quite push the horror envelope far enough, leaving some sequences more muted than menacing.

For comparison, films like Starve Acre tread similar paths with more bite. Still, Rabbit Trap offers moments of sonic brilliance and eerie atmosphere that folk horror fans will appreciate—even if it never breaks free from the genre’s familiar spell.

Rating: ★★½ out of ★★★★★

Written and Directed by Bryn Chainey

Starring Dev Patel, Rosy McEwen, Jade Croot