BABYTEETH

Australia, 2019, 118 minutes, Colour.
Eliza Scanlon, Toby Wallace, Ben Mendelssohn, Essie Davis.
Directed by Shannon Murphy.

Despite…

Better to leave that word till the end of the review.

Here is a slice of life from Sydney, characters that one might recognise but also characters that one might not always identify with. The impact of this film will depend on whether one connects with the characters, most reviewers and bloggers really being taken by them, others commenting that they felt that they were observing, rather detached, not quite connecting with the characters. Which means that there will be different responses to the situations and issues.

This is a story about a teenage girl, still at school, Milla, but diagnosed with terminal cancer. It is a story about how she deals with her illness, acknowledging it, ignoring it, her parents love and care, an encounter with an addict terror away young man and his effect on her. She is played by Eliza Scanlen, a subtle performance. (Eliza Scanlen had appeared as Beth in Greta Gerwig’s version of Little Women, was also seen in The Devil All the Time.) In many ways, this is a close-up of Milla, the complexity of her personality, the twists and turns in her behaviour, ultimately unpredictable, and the touch of the tragic.

It is also the story of Moses, a striking performance by Toby Wallace. Often high, often reckless, he knocks Milla on the Sydney railway station as he rushes to crash into the wall of a carriage. However, this is the beginning of a friendship, on and off on his part, unreliable. But, Moses is attracted to Milla and the interactions are complex, liberating her from her suburban way of life, invited by her parents to live in to support her, but his being challenged at the end by her wish to die.

Milla’s parents are played by Ben Mendelssohn and Essie Davis, each character quite idiosyncratic, the father a psychiatrist, loving, frequently exasperated by his moody wife, her need for affection and affirmation, her constant need for medication. Their daughter’s illness is a challenge to them, something that they are not always able to respond to despite their wanting to.

Rounding out the characters is a young woman, played by Emily Barclay, single, pregnant, moving in across the street, engaging the father’s attention and regrets. There is also a music teacher, fond of the mother, teaching Milla violin, urging her mother to resume her piano playing. (There are also two young boys, a youngster learning the violin, and Moses’ admiring younger brother.)

We realise that we are watching a cross-section of people who are ordinary in many ways, eccentric in many others, challenging our responses. There are deep personal issues. There are challenges in moral issues.

There is an unexpected sequence before the final credits, a beach scene with everybody present, taking photographs, playing and happy, even mucking around.

Which means then that, ultimately, there are some hopes, despite…


1. The title? The image at the beginning? At the end? Milla losing her baby tooth?

2. The Sydney settings, homes, streets, workplaces, hospitals? Outings, clubs, the musical score?

3. Continued use of captions throughout the film, explicit drawing attention to situations, characters, nuances?

4. The impact of the opening, Milla and her absorption, the railway station, Moses and his pushing her, crashing into the railway carriage? Her reaction? His reaction? His knocking her out of her self-absorption?

5. Milla, in her family, her father is a psychiatrist, her pianist mother, nerves and medication, the love for Milla, their concern about her cancer?

6. Milla story, her age, growing up, the violin, playing music with her mother, her relationship with her father, going to school, the diagnosis, terminal? Her dealing with her illness? The care from her parents? Telling Moses, his concern? The encounter with Moses, the strangeness of the attraction, sharing with him, his being on-again, off-again, confiding about the lump? Coming out of herself with him, first love, sharing with him, the outings, the dancing, her collapse and his abandoning her on the wall? Her parents rescuing her? The buildup to her birthday, gifts, the candle, Moses present? Her parents letting him stay in the house? His being with Milla, her asking him to smother her, his tier, inability, the attempt, her reaction? The sexual encounter? Her dying?

7. Moses’ story, the absent father, the angry mother, admiration from his younger brother, on drugs, leaving home, his age? Reckless? The encounter with Milla, the follow-up, the meetings, on and off, staying at the house, encouraged by her parents, the shared experiences, Milla’s anger with him, his return? The sexual encounter, his response to smothering her, unable, the tier, the attempt, his telling her parents of her death? Moses and his attempt to go into the house, his mother’s rejection, his relationship with his brother?

8. Henry and Anna, the meeting is if an appointment at the psychiatrist’s office, the audience learning they were husband and wife? Henry, his practice, love for his daughter, erratic in his behaviour, sometimes forthright, sometimes withdrawing, the encounter with the pregnant girl across the street, her dog, Henry? The impulsive kiss? Trying to deal with and are, exasperation, her moods, her medication? His taking the morphine? Their letting Moses stay in the house? The desperate search for Milla, hospital? Anna and her visit to the music teacher, her relationship with him? Her refusal to play the piano? Milla’s request, mother and daughter playing? The birthday party, the celebration, their watching Moses and Milla, the comment about bad parenting? The response to Moses, Milla’s death?

9. The pregnant girl across the street, Henry her dog, calling, smoking, Henry’s reaction, discussions, his kiss?

10. The music teacher, the little boy and his violin talent, the relationship with Anna, with Milla?

11. The party, everyone present, the pregnant mother (and her having to leave the hospital), the music teacher, Moses’ brother? The celebration?

12. Milla’s death, the flashback to the beach sequence, photos, playful, everybody happy?

13. The acclaim for the film, awards?