Magnet Releasing, AKA Magnolia Pictures’ attempt to be edgy, has graced us with a trailer and poster for RABBIT TRAP, the directorial debut of, get this, Bryn Chainey. Prepare to be underwhelmed! 😴
Produced by Elijah Wood’s Spectrevision—because apparently, Frodo’s taste is now the gold standard 🙄—this cinematic masterpiece (said no one ever) world-premiered in the midnight section at Sundance. Yes, the section where films go to die a slow, agonizing death. It follows a sound engineer (Dev Patel, slumming it, apparently) and his experimental musician wife (Rosy McEwen) who, while gallivanting in the ancient Welsh woodlands, accidentally capture a sound that’s “forbidden.” Oh no! 😱 Cue a creepy kid (Jade Croot) and a plot that probably makes less sense than a politician’s promise. Magnet, bless their cotton socks, thinks this is worth releasing theatrically on September 12th. Good luck with that! 🤞
Darcy (Patel) and Daphne (McEwen) Davenport, fleeing London because they’re too cool for the city (or maybe just can’t afford rent), relocate to a charmingly isolated Welsh cottage to rediscover their “creative renewal” and “acoustic inspiration.” Sounds thrilling, right? 🙄 Armed with recording equipment that probably cost more than my car, Darcy stumbles upon a “faerie circle” (because Wales) emitting a mysterious frequency. Soon after, an “otherworldly child” (Croot) appears, claiming to be a local and desperate for friends. This kid, naturally, becomes a constant presence, alternating between endearing and deeply unsettling, unearthing long-buried secrets and psychological trauma. Basically, your typical Tuesday night. 🤷♂️
“It’s a quiet miracle that this film exists: an earthy, sound-driven psychological thriller that takes its cues from Celtic folklore and bends genre expectations,” said Chainey. Translation: “We made a weird movie that nobody asked for.” “It took a very special band of misfits to drag this mad dream into being, and I’m so grateful for Magnolia now joining the gang. Their faith in such a unique film is hugely encouraging, not just for me but any filmmaker taking the path less traveled.” Translation: “Please watch my film, I beg you. 🙏 My career depends on it.”
Directed and written by Bryn Chainey, RABBIT TRAP is produced by a whole bunch of people you’ve probably never heard of: Lawrence Inglee, Daniel Noah, Elijah Wood, Elisa Lleras, Alex Ashworth, Sean Marley, Adrian Politowski, Martin Metz. And executive produced by even MORE people! Nadia Khamlichi, Nessa McGill, Sierra Garcia, Steven Demmler, Stephen Kelliher, Sophie Green, Benjamin Kramer, Joseph Cavalier, Kyle Stroud, Tom Ogden, Dan Hubbard. Clearly, it takes a village to make a movie that might make back its budget. 💸
The deal was negotiated by Magnolia SVP of Acquisitions John Von Thaden, with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers. Because apparently, even acquiring a movie about forbidden sounds and creepy kids requires a small army of lawyers and agents. 🤦♀️
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
