Bambi: The Reckoning is a 2025 horror monster film and the third film set in the Twisted Childhood Universe. It's directed by Dan Allen and written by Rhys Warrington. It's a horror retelling of the 1923 children's novel Bambi: A Life in The Woods by Felix Salten.
Synopsis[]
The film follows Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi seeking revenge for the death of his mother.
Plot[]
Following the tragic death of his mother at the hands of a hunter, Bambi the deer grows up to a have a family of his own. However, men secretly dumping toxic chemicals in the woods kill Bambi’s mate with their vehicle and take his offspring captive. Bambi later drinks from the contaminated water and mutates into a deadly creature.
Upset to discover her husband Simon is no longer coming with them, Xana still books a taxi to take her and her son Benji to visit Simon’s family at a remote home in the woods. During the drive, Xana dodges her observant son’s concerns about ongoing trouble in his mother and father’s marriage.
Bambi violently rams the taxi along a dark forest road, causing it to overturn. As Bambi continues attacking the vehicle, Xana and Benji flee while the trapped taxi driver is crushed.
Xana and Benji make it to the house where Simon’s brothers Andrew and Joshua, their dementia-afflicted mother Mary, Andrew’s wife Harriet, and Harriet’s annoying teenage son Harrison are waiting. Throughout the evening, Mary repeatedly mutters, stares strangely into the surrounding trees, and draws disturbing sketches of a monstrous deer.
After hearing what happened to Xana and Benji, Joshua goes alone to the crash site to investigate. Michael, Eddie, and Tyler, three hunters searching the woods for Bambi, accidentally shoot and kill Joshua.
Back at the house, Bambi charges through a window to attack the family. Xana, Benji, Andrew, Harrison, and Mary escape to a vehicle outside, but Harriet is torn in half by Bambi’s antlers. After the remaining family members speed away, the three hunters investigate the house later and Michael euthanizes Harriet.
The family’s vehicle is stopped by a fallen tree in the road. Andrew and Harrison get out to move the obstruction. When Bambi suddenly attacks, Benji is forced to immediately drive away. Harrison is left behind by himself while Andrew dies gruesomely when he gets caught in a rope and dragged along the road.
After the vehicle runs out of gas, Mary wanders into the forest. Xana and Benji chase after the old woman and the trio ends up in a clearing of grisly human remains from Bambi’s various victims. Meanwhile, a herd of mutated rabbits mauls Harrison to death.
Michael, Eddie, and Tyler find Xana, Benji, and Mary and bring the trio back to their basecamp. There, Xana discovers the hunters, which include a fourth person named Jo, are working for her husband Simon, who was responsible for the toxic waste spill and has been hunting the mutant animals as part of a coverup.
Xana demands to call the police due to the deaths, but Simon refuses for fear of his crimes being exposed. Michael pulls a gun on Xana to force her to hand over a phone.
Bambi beheads Tyler while he relieves himself in the woods. Bambi mauls Eddie next. Cornered by Bambi, Jo shoots a gas canister whose resulting explosion kills her, but not the deer.
Benji frees the small fawn that the hunters took from Bambi and takes it into the woods. Xana chases after her son. Determined to recover the fawn, Michael also follows. Meanwhile, Mary has an encounter with Bambi, but the mutant deer leaves her alone.
Upon finding Xana and Benji, Simon and Michael demand that the boy turn over the fawn. Bambi gores Michael on his antlers and runs off into the trees with him. Xana tries recovering Michael’s dropped phone to call for help, but Simon stops his wife and says he won’t allow her to ruin his life.
Simon runs away when Bambi comes back. Simon ends up mauled to death by a mutated rabbit when he tries fleeing in his vehicle.
Realizing Bambi wants its offspring, Xana and Benji reunite the two deer. However, Michael unexpectedly returns in a bloodied state to shoot Bambi to the ground. Mary retaliates by shooting Michael dead. Mary, Xana, and Benji solemnly observe as the fawn mourns Bambi’s apparent death.
Cast[]
• Roxanne McKee as Xana
• Tom Mulheron as Benji
• Nicola Wright as Mary
• Samira Mighty as Harriet
• Joseph Greenwood as Harrison
Bambi is CGI
Trivia[]
- This is the second horror film by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffery based on a Children's Franchise. The first being Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and the upcoming Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare.
- This is also the fourth film set in the "Twisted Childhood Universe".
- Just like Pooh, the Film is being made because Felix Salten's original Bambi novel entered the public domain last year in the United States. However, since the film is being made in the U.K, the Novel was already PD in most countries.
- Scott Jeffery states The version of Bambi being used in the Film as well as the film itself is inspired by Netflix's The Ritual (2017)