A late-blooming pre-adolescent girl attempts to save a brutally wounded rabbit, yet finds that her moral compass and perspective on mortality are challenged in the process.

Coming face-to-face with the notion of inevitable death for the first time is a marking moment in one’s life. And not everyone deals with it in the same way – particularly when you feel like there is something you can do about it. Director Meredith Hama-Brown bring this defying moral moment to the screen in her latest short film ‘Broken Bunny’. But the experience isn’t as straight forward as you may think. Mainly due to the stylistic approach that Meredith decided to tell the story in. With lots of static and wide shots, the audience is rather objective in what should otherwise be a highly intimate situation for the girl. This distance creates additional mystery and unknown, which allows the audience to get involved with their own conclusions.

‘Broken Bunny’ is loosely based on Meredith’s personal experience. Where she had a similar encounter with a very injured rabbit (although just a little older in age) and struggled with the idea of putting it out of its misery. While calling her mom for advice another girl found it and picked it up. “I was thinking that the person who tried to help it must be quite naive but at the same time I couldn’t really face killing it myself either” said Meredith.

The girls, played by Vanessa Przada & Bracken Hanke, brilliantly carry that childhood innocence and sense of discovery in the tense moments. Where their body language (in a film that holds very little dialogue) gives no clear hints at any reason for their actions, despite feeling the uneasiness of the situation. ‘Broken Bunny’ is another excellent cinematic piece by Meredith, who’s previously brought us ‘Cosmic’ which can also be seen on Film Shortage.