Pratik Handore
Directed by Daina Reid, Netflix’s ‘Run Rabbit’ Run’ is a horror thriller film that tells the story of Sarah, a single mother whose life takes a drastic turn when her 7-year-old daughter, Mia, claims to have memories of another life. As the narrative progresses, viewers learn that Mia’s strange behavior is linked to Alice, Sarah’s sister. Moreover, we frequently see Mia bleeding, which elevates the horror Sarah faces because of the inexplicable events caused by Mia. Therefore, viewers must be curious to learn how Mia learned about Alice and why she bleeds. SPOILERS AHEAD!
How Does Mia Know About Alice?
In ‘Run Rabbit Run,’ Mia lives with her single mother, Sarah, in a suburban South Australia house. On the eve of her seventh birthday, Mia finds a rabbit on her porch, which she insists on adopting. Sarah reluctantly agrees, but the rabbit’s arrival seems to spark a strange behavior within Mia. She starts nagging Sarah to meet Joan, Sarah’s estranged mother, and claims she is Alice, Sarah’s long-lost sister. As Mia’s behavior develops a pattern, Sarah becomes concerned about her daughter and is forced to confront the unresolved guilt about her past. Sarah disliked her sister, Alice, whom she hit with a rabbit trap and pushed from the cliff, causing Alice’s death. However, Sarah has kept her relationship with Alice a secret from Mia. As a result, the film raises questions about how Mia learned about her dead aunt.
While the film does not answer the questions definitively, several possibilities exist. The most obvious one is that Mia is indeed a rebirth of Alice, as she claims. However, this cannot be true as Mia barely knows anything about Alice and her relationship with Sarah, something we see Sarah explaining to her daughter. As a result, this possibility can be discounted. Mia’s strange behavior starts after she finds the rabbit. Hence, the rabbit could be the source of information about Alice for viewers who like to believe in the story’s paranormal aspects and prefer a supernatural explanation. Secondly, there is a mention of Sarah’s father telling Mia about returning to her in some other form after his death. Lastly, the film strongly hints at Sarah imagining several incidents and lives inside a carefully created bubble reality. Hence, it is possible that Sarah might have unknowingly told Mia about Alice and has no recollection of it. The third possibility plays into the movie’s theme of anxiety about motherhood and elevates the psychological horror elements of the story, making it the most likely explanation.
Mia’s Bleeding Is Symbolic
Throughout the movie, viewers see Mia behaving erratically, demanding Sarah refer to her as Alice. After the mother-daughter moves into Sarah’s childhood home, Mia is convinced she is Alice. However, another recurring aspect of Mia’s strange behavior is her frequent injuries, which result in bleeding. During the movie’s final act, viewers learn about what really transpired between Sarah and Alice when they were young. Sarah hit Alice with a rabbit trap on her head, exactly in the same spot where Mia seems to have a head injury. However, when Sarah checks for bleeding, she almost never finds any signs of an injury.
Nonetheless, Mia’s bleeding is visible to the viewers in some scenes, such as during the car ride to meet Joan when Mia bleeds. After learning the truth about Alice’s death and Sarah’s unresolved guilt, it is safe to say that most of Mia’s injuries result from Sarah’s imagination. Her guilt turns into anxiety about keeping her daughter safe from the darker parts of herself. These feelings manifest in hallucinations, where Sarah frequently imagines her daughter is injured. The bleeding is a symbol of Sarah’s fear of hurting her daughter in the same fashion as she hurt her sister. Ultimately, Mia’s bleeding is symbolic and adds to the movie’s theme of a mother dealing with unresolved guilt while trying to protect her daughter from a dark secret about her past.
Read More: Run Rabbit Run: Is the Rabbit Real or CGI?
