Zhu’s debut feature “Bunnylovr” premieres at Sundance

Cinema | March 4th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

Writer/director/performer Katarina Zhu’s feature debut “Bunnylovr” premiered to mixed reviews in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Despite the lack of critical consensus, the movie succeeds as a portrait of loneliness and isolation intensified by our reliance on the technology that is supposed to facilitate connection, but only alienates us from the warmth and intimacy we desire and need. Several of the responses immediately following the initial screenings took Zhu’s narrative to task, with more than one critic applying the questionable claim that “Bunnylovr” is dull and aimless. For the record, I was never bored by Zhu’s frequently languid storytelling approach.

“Bunnylovr” explores key relationships in the day-to-day life of Zhu’s camgirl Rebecca, who depends on computer-mediated sex work to make ends meet in New York City. The recent spotlight on “Anora” has elevated discourse around cinematic depictions of the category (in the broadest sense), but several movies, including Daniel Goldhaber’s “Cam,” Ben Hozie’s “PVT Chat,” and Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District” are just a few recent features that have incorporated camming. What distinguishes “Bunnylovr” from those films is Zhu’s interest in character over plot.

Rebecca, or Becca, as she is just as likely to be called, reconnects with her estranged dad William (an excellent Perry Yung) following a seemingly chance encounter on the street. William, now grappling with a terminal medical diagnosis, used to join forces with his daughter to cheat at card games. This clever bit of personal history links the two to some classic onscreen parent/child con artists, including Charles Coburn/Barbara Stanwyck in “The Lady Eve” and Ryan/Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” Zhu, however, chooses not to develop that particular dimension beyond their most basic hints at the generational source of Becca’s ability to grind and hustle.

Zhu also introduces a few of Becca’s other friends, acquaintances, and lovers. The director’s fellow NYU classmate Rachel Sennott, who is also one of the film’s co-producers, plays Becca’s pal Bella, a painter with enough wealth and privilege (as compared to Becca) to complicate and frustrate the friendship. Jack Kilmer appears as Becca’s ex. He and Zhu play some fine moments as people figuring out how to move on even though they might not be ready to stop having sex with each other. But the most dominant figure in Becca’s world is John (Austin Amelio), a client whose unpredictable overtures and increasingly unsettling obsession with our protagonist push into darker territory.

The way that John insinuates himself into Becca’s personal life crosses boundaries that will cause some viewers to scream at the checklist of bad choices and red flags. Some of the latter require a significant suspension of disbelief; John sends a live pet rabbit to Becca as a gift, a gesture which will factor in some of the movie’s most uncomfortable scenes. The “A for effort” risks don’t pay off in every respect, but on the journey of self-discovery undertaken by Becca, Zhu’s interest in contemplating consent, autonomy, and slippery power and gender dynamics in the transactional space of online sex work and IRL contact make “Bunnylovr” worth seeking out.

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