Review: Rabbit Hole (12A) ****

There is a considerable gathering of talent at the heart of this story of love and loss in which a couple mourning the loss of their child in a road accident set off in different directions as they seek to make sense of his death and their grief.

Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are Becca and Howie Corbett, a professional couple whose young son Danny was knocked down and killed when he ran into the road outside their New York home. The director is John Cameron Mitchell, best known for edgy indie fare such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Shortbus. The writer is David Lindsay-Abaire, who penned the script from his Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play.

A (distant) relative of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? this is a similarly coruscating drama about deeply wounded people who either cannot or will not talk about their shared state of limbo.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Together Becca and Howie attend a counselling group. He wants that shared emotion. She does not. He is seeking answers to salve his pain. She is not. In fact, Becca has totally shut down. Like an automaton, she is sleepwalking through what remains of her life.

And as their routes diverge, so they connect with others for emotional support. He hangs out with a dope-smoking pal from the group. She begins a cautious friendship with a teenage comic artist – the driver of the car that killed Danny.

A potent, heartbreaking, painfully real domestic drama, Rabbit Hole retains the intimacy of its theatrical roots and empowers its star duo to rise to great heights. As their grief overwhelms them, Howie looks for a return to normality but cannot throw away his son's clothes. Becca wants to heal the hurt by hiding Danny away.

Raw, wincingly authentic and totally plausible in its depiction of a marriage driven to the edge by unfathomable emotions, Rabbit Hole offers up magnificent opportunities for both Kidman (Oscar-nominated) and Eckhart while scattering questions beginning "What if...?" throughout its 99 minutes.

It is not an easy watch, but it is a rewarding one.

On general release

Related topics: