Babyteeth - Review

Babyteeth

How to describe or classify Babyteeth? Coming-of-age, romance, comedy?! Dark, humanist, spiritual, moving drama? The brief summary of Babyteeth is that it is a story of a young girl (Milla) with a serious illness who meets a young tearaway part-time drug dealer and user (Moses), and how they influence each other, for better and for worse (mostly for better). I think calling this in any way a comedy coming of age drama aligns it too closely, and wrongly, with films like Eighth Grade and Ladybird, which it is not. That is not to say there is not funny dialogue, there is plenty of it, but I think 'comedy' misrepresents this fantastic character-study film. That said, I love the character of Anna, the mother - and particularly enjoyed the story about Milla's birth at the dinner table.

The character focussed nature of the film raises many questions in the mind of the audience. For example, regarding the marriage shown in Babyteeth; are they staying together for their daughter or is the disconnect there because she is ill? I think it is likely the former, as we see that both partners have the potential to be romantically involved with other people (pregnant neighbour Toby, and musical instructor Gidon). We might also note how Anna is comforted by Moses despite being upset with him rather than her husband Henry, who goes and sees Milla alone. Another intriguing question is whether Moses contributes to Milla's death, and what his true motivations are for being involved with this family; is it purely for selfish gain, does he love Milla, or does he just want a surrogate family? Moses' story is barely touched upon and yet we feel we know how it is likely to end.

Adding to the films' quirky nature are the chapter titles, flashed on the screen in neon lettering, usually made up of one to five words. These introduce us to Milla's disease by virtue of one of the headings "Chemo". Guy Lodge (Variety) notes, "Even the film’s occasionally precious, rather erratically applied chapter headings (“Nausea,” “Insomnia,” “F—k This,” and so on) have a mounting cinematic rhythm to them."

The soundtrack opened my eyes to new music, particularly songs from The Cat Empire, and Come Meh Way by Sudan Archives, which will from now on conjure images of Moses and Milla dancing freely, respectively. 

Whilst Babyteeth has had a positive reception overall, there does seem to be a bit of a trend of people not "getting it", some have complained it isn't really 'about anything'.  I think that this is it's charm and that it is about the human spirit and finding joy in little moments, and I hope to see it pick up some Academy Awards this year. 

Rating: 10/10 but I don't want to watch it again anytime soon

Similar Films: Not sure there are many like it, but in parts it thematically reminds me of 50/50, The Fault in Our Stars, I Am Not Okay With This (Series), Beautiful Boy