X
- 2020
- TV-PG
- IFC Films
- 1 h 58 m
- 2020
- TV-PG
- IFC Films
- 1 h 58 m
Summary When seriously ill teenager Milla falls madly in love with smalltime drug dealer Moses, it’s her parents’ worst nightmare. But as Milla’s first brush with love brings her a new lust for life, things get messy and traditional morals go out the window. Milla soon shows everyone in her orbit – her parents, Moses, a sensitive music teacher, ...
Directed By: Shannon Murphy
Written By: Rita Kalnejais
- 2020
- TV-PG
- IFC Films
- 1 h 58 m
- 2020
- TV-PG
- IFC Films
- 1 h 58 m
Babyteeth
77
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary When seriously ill teenager Milla falls madly in love with smalltime drug dealer Moses, it’s her parents’ worst nightmare. But as Milla’s first brush with love brings her a new lust for life, things get messy and traditional morals go out the window. Milla soon shows everyone in her orbit – her parents, Moses, a sensitive music teacher, ...
Directed By: Shannon Murphy
Written By: Rita Kalnejais
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
77
87% Positive
26 Reviews
26 Reviews
13% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
77
87% Positive
26 Reviews
26 Reviews
13% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
There’s a fearlessness to Murphy’s film-making, a slightly wayward, maverick spirit. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
You may think you know where it is going. And maybe you're right. But how the film gets there is a very different matter.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 40 User Ratings
7.3
78% Positive
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
15% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
8% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 40 User Ratings
7.3
78% Positive
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
15% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
8% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
There’s an abundance of rising talent emerging from Australia’s film scene at the moment and director Shannon Murphy can consider herself among this group. Her coming-of-age/family drama Babyteeth is yet another success from the antipodes and showcases a confident new voice in independent cinema. Generally, coming-of-age dramas don’t work for me but Murphy offers so much more here. There’s a lot of ambition in her approach and although a little more discipline is required when some scenes go on too long, for the most part this is a hugely involving and emotional drama that addresses some weighty issues, such as terminal illness, addiction and mental health. These issues are handled sensitively but also not without some well judged humour to lighten the load, as well as benefiting from four brilliantly committed performances: relative newcomers Eliza Scanlen and Toby Wallace excel as the youngsters coming to terms with the hands they’re dealt while experienced performers like The Babadook’s Essie Davis and, the always excellent, Ben Mendelsohn pick up the pieces as suffering parents with their own issues. A beautiful and emotionally resonant piece of work.
Report
This really threw me, a few misfires early on had me doubting but then suddenly and with magic it all came together and I was completely emotionally engaged and became locked-on to it's powerful message on non-judgement, subjectivity and love, I understood everything, I laughed and I cried and I felt it
Report
Given the subject matter, it’s difficult not to stray into mawkishness of some kind. But even with mistakes, the power of the main narrative is hard to erode.
In the hands of first-time feature director Shannon Murphy — who crushed it in both of the Season Three Killing Eve episodes she helmed — and screenwriter Rita Kalnejais, who adapted her own play, Babyteeth rips past the hackneyed tropes of illness drama to dig out what’s fresh in the familiar.
Under Murphy’s direction, the tone is darkly comic — not what you’d expect given that plot synopsis but to which the actors respond with deftness and creativity, like downhill skiers facing a challenging slalom.
Babyteeth is a funny, affecting group portrait, a comedy-tinged family drama.
The movie has texture but no depth, tears but no snot. Who are these people, I kept wondering.
The combo of a teenager and a terminal illness.
To be honest that's already a pretty tiresome narrative resource and I actually started to see it with a tired expectation.
The mainstream side of the YA genre has already explored it quite a bit, with more manipulative and sentimental results than truly emotional.
And while Babyteeth doesn't come to rediscover anything either, it's a story that feels more spontaneous.
The path is similar, the characters will learn, they will experience something different, they will grow and ultimately maybe it will cause a change. The topics are there, but Babyteeth manages to make them feel even if not innovative, more entertaining and satisfying.
Let's say Babyteeth is like The Fault in Our Stars but for viewers looking for more than just the perfect idyll.
Report
Production Company
Screen Australia,
Create NSW,
Spectrum Films,
WeirAnderson.com,
Jan Chapman Films,
Whitefalk Films
Release Date Jun 19, 2020
Duration 1 h 58 m
Rating TV-PG
Awards
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards
• 9 Wins & 13 Nominations
Film Club's The Lost Weekend
• 4 Wins & 4 Nominations
Venice Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
