Interview: Bryn Chainey on Folklore, Sound Design, and the Haunting Power of RABBIT TRAP
- creepykingdom
- Sep 16
- 5 min read
By Shannon McGrew
In Bryn Chainey's feature film debut, RABBIT TRAP, a musician (Rosy McEwen) and her husband (Dev Patel) move to a remote house in Wales. When the music they make disturbs local ancient folk magic, a nameless child arrives at their door and is intent on infiltrating their lives.
For the release of RABBIT TRAP, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with writer/director Bryn Chainey. During their chat, they discussed everything from the roots of its folklore to the sound design that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
What was the initial inspiration for RABBIT TRAP? What goals did you want to achieve with this film?
Bryn Chainey: The seed was found in one of my short films, Moritz and the Woodwose, which shares some themes with RABBIT TRAP. Moritz is a boy struggling to accept the reality of his home situation, but who finds courage through his macabre encounters with a mysterious woodland being. Both personally and creatively, there were elements of that film that I wanted to explore further, and through a long writing process, I found RABBIT TRAP.
Since childhood, I’ve been drawn to folklore, fables, and fairytales. Fantasy and horror are also terrific, but these rarely scratch the same itch for me. The more ancient modes of storytelling do something different: they’re more symbolic and wild, like poetry, interweaving objective reality with eruptions of dream logic and mystical possibility. They’re not just aiming to entertain or give moral lessons; they’re exploring the mysteries of existence, consciousness, and nature.
One of my goals is to bring that into the cinema in a satisfying way. It can get messy, since folklore is more feral than what cinema usually allows into the house. Folklore isn’t fully domestic: it’s more like a stray that’s wandered in, eaten your breakfast, and pissed on your furniture. But I’ve always preferred street dogs to thoroughbreds from a puppy mill, and have faith there are others who share my taste.
The film has striking sound and visual design. How did you and your creative team work to merge those senses to make the movie feel immersive and alive?
Bryn Chainey: For many films, sound design is an afterthought, but with RABBIT TRAP, it was baked into the screenplay and a key part of preproduction. Our composer, Lucrecia Dalt, was hired before we’d finished casting the film, and she started writing music long before we shot. These pieces were played on set — sometimes for Rosy to mime along to, and other times to dictate the mood and rhythm of sequences without dialogue.
During the edit, elements were being shared between the editor (Brett Bachman), sound designer (Graham Reznick), and composer, since each department’s work informed the other. It was a very fluid process and probably the only way a film like this can be achieved.
Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen are captivating together, but Jade Croot really blew me away with her performance. Can you talk about casting for The Child and what made you land on Jade Croot?
Bryn Chainey: The Child is a slippery character and, much like the faeries of Wales, everything about him is difficult to pin down. At times, he’s eerie and unsettling; later, he reveals himself as curious, loyal, and insightful. We didn’t want to fall into the “creepy child” or “demon seed” trope, so throughout the ups and downs, the character needed to be grounded in real heart — a longing to be seen, heard, and accepted.
To find the right actor, we had a dedicated casting director - Hannah Marie Williams - who specialises in Welsh casting. Together, we auditioned dozens of young actors of all genders and ages, who each brought their own interpretation of the character. Jade’s audition just utterly floored and unsettled me with its presence and vulnerability. She was fully locked into the scene and was hypnotic to watch. Jade was the oldest actor we considered - she was 25 at the time of shooting - and the role had originally been written for a teenage boy, so it was a risky decision. But it didn’t take long to make the brave choice: we knew the age and gender ambiguity would feed into the character’s mystery, not detract from it, at least for most people, and it was a risk we were willing to take. I mean, you don’t encounter an actor like Jade and then not cast her. She’s going to be one of the greats, I’m sure.
What struck me most was the appearance of Darcy's father and their interaction. It sent a shiver down my spine, and I immediately grasped what was being told. What was the process like in bringing those scenes to life and making them more sinister each time we experienced them?
Bryn Chainey: I’m glad those sequences worked for you, since, to be honest, they were tough ones to nail down. In earlier versions of the screenplay, Darcy’s sleep paralysis was more of a complex and overtly “horror” sequence. Still, for both budget and creative reasons, it became better to strip the scene down to its bare essentials: just Darcy trapped in bed, emotionally shrunk by fear into a childlike state of submission. Dev’s performance did most of the work: he dropped into such a vulnerable, terrified place that it’s a chilling and heartbreaking moment simply as it is. To reinforce it visually, we hired an actor who was nearly 2.5 metres tall. That fact isn’t super obvious, but you can notice it in how big his hand is when resting against Dev’s chest.
Beyond the beautiful visuals and unforgettable sound design (as well as the creeping dread), what questions or feelings do you hope linger with viewers after the credits roll?
Bryn Chainey: There’s an early scene in which Darcy tries to explain the nature of sound: “Sound is a ghost… and when you hear a sound, you become its home. Your body is the house it haunts.”
I’d love for audiences - particularly men - to reflect on what’s haunting them on the inside, and to take the brave step to share it with someone they trust. The same bravery goes in the other direction: ask yourself, can I be a safehouse for someone else’s ghosts? If the answer is yes, open the door and listen.
RABBIT TRAP is now in theaters.
