Babyteeth

Babyteeth is an audacious alluring piece of work that creates a uniquely bittersweet universe revolving around first love and terminal illness. This Australian drama, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2019 where it won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor for Toby Wallace, hails from the hands of television director Shannon Murphy, and is a feature film debut written by Rita Kalnejais.

The film offers an exceptional balance of heartbreak and humor, pain, and profound love and stars Eliza Scanlen in a role that bears testament to her considerable talents. Scanlen previously impressed audiences with her performance in HBO's adaptation of Sharp Objects and portrays a terminally ill high school student named Milla Finlay in Babyteeth. The film derives its rather esoteric title from the fact that Milla still possesses a milk tooth that refuses to fall out, a poignant symbol of her stunted growth and suspended adolescence.

Against the backdrop of her coastal Sydney neighborhood, the film opens with Milla falling, almost literally, for a chaotic and unpredictable small-time drug dealer named Moses, excellently portrayed by Toby Wallace. It’s a fraught meeting, yet there’s an immediate bond between the sheltered, classical violinist and the wild, tattooed delinquent.

Her parents, played by the magnificent Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis, espy this unfolding liaison with alarm. Mendelsohn plays Henry, her psychiatrist father, who practices psycho-pharmacology with a little too much personal enthusiasm. Davis is Anna, her elegant mother, whose emotional fragility is barely medicated by an assortment of pills. Their parental instincts are stretched between shielding their daughter from harm and letting her taste a bit of life.

The ensuing tale beautifully explores the distressing paradox of finding life and love when it’s being ripped away from you. Milla's tragic condition contrasts sharply with her inner zeal for life, her struggle to find adolescent normalcy while trying to make sense of her own mortality and her intense nascent love for Moses.

Babyteeth is rich with diverse secondary characters that contribute color, quirk, and depth, including a pregnant and profoundly philosophical neighbor, a violin teacher who finds music even in everyday kitchen noises, and a fellow student as smitten with Milla as she is oblivious to his adoration.

Bathed in a colorful palette which adds levity to the weighty themes, the film also boasts an energetically eccentric soundtrack that creates a unique fusion of moods. There are moments of quirky humor, heartbreaking reality, and a distinctive approach to depicting illness that does not wallow in fearful sentimentality. Instead, the film captures the profound beauty often hidden within tragic circumstances. At the same time, it serves as an exploration of the messy, irrational, and contradictory emotions that come with the process of handling trauma, loss, and change.

Despite the authentic look and complex characterizations, Babyteeth isn’t just about the actors. It is the visually stylistic direction that stands out, creating visually rich, dream-like sequences that appear boundlessly raw and personal, transcending the cancer-tale conventions to provide a refreshing look at life, death, and everything that lies in between.

On a thematic level, Babyteeth explores how a looming awareness of death might make us contemplate life more deliberately and make us feel more alive. The film does not shy away from acknowledging its tragic potential but chooses to dwell on the spacious possibility that even amid despair, joy and connection can be found.

All in all, Babyteeth is a movie about discovery and revelation. It combines the burgeoning sexual awakening of adolescence with the stoicism of coming to terms with the inevitable, all while maintaining a sense of humor and a startlingly fresh perspective. Shannon Murphy's directorial debut reimagines the narrative of a romantic cancer drama by acknowledging that 'typical' doesn't exist when it comes to young love or terminal illness. Babyteeth depicts love as often untidy, family as invariably imperfect, and living as defiantly rich, even when tempered by the shadow of death.

The film might bring a tear to your eye, but not without good reason. A beautifully poignant coming-of-age film, Babyteeth is a sharply observed, emotionally charged movie-going experience dressed in charm and painted with bright, vibrant colors, despite its tragic undertones. It’s the kind of film that makes your heartache, but in a good way, creating an emotionally robust experience that's a testament to exceptional storytelling.