Lost River (2015)

In the scene where the actress takes a rat out of her pocket and chops his head off with scissors, trainers accomplished this scene with several takes. First, the trainer introduced the rat to the actress so she could get acquainted with him. On action they filmed a series of shots of the actress caressing the rat, petting him, then reaching towards the rat with a pair of fake scissors. They cut camera and replaced the rat with a fake rat. She cuts the fake rat’s head off.

In the scene where the actress holds the rat in her arms, trainers gave her the rat prior to filming and instructed her on how to hold him.

In the scene where the actress lies in bed holding her rat, trainers were off camera, and the actress was well acquainted with the rat.