“Joy and pain. Are like sunshine and rain. Love can be bitter, love can be sweet. Sometimes devotion and sometimes deceit. The ones that you care for give you so much pain. Oh but it’s alright they’re both one in the same.” These timeless lyrics from Frankie Beverly and Maze hold much truth in describing how sometimes good and bad can be a package deal. Sometimes what heals us will start off by going down rough until the benefits begin to arise. Love can be complicated, but occasionally one must survive traversing through murky waters in order to get to clearer seas.
In the midst of our current renaissance of teenage girl coming of age stories, what is at first striking about Babyteeth is the fact that it focuses on dysfunctional, flawed characters.The film follows cancer stricken teenager Milla Finlay (Eliza Scanlen) as she fall in love with 23 year-old drug addict and dealer Moses (Toby Wallace). In Moses, Milla finds excitement and daring at a time she needs it most, much to her parents Anna (Essie Davis) and Henry’s (Ben Mendelsohn) dismay.
Anna and Henry are mired in a marriage teetering on the brink, both medicating to deal with the tumultuousness of their household and the seemingly inevitable crumbling of their union. Milla, having to deal with both her illness and the tension between her parents, forms a trauma bond with an older drug addict/dealer in Moses who embraces his own demons rather than attempt to fight them off. The result is a film that feels more grounded and raw in its depiction of the life lessons that not only young women learn during their teen years, but also what those that love them may take away from the experience as well.
Director Shannon Murphy breaks the film down into multiple chapters of sorts, complete with colorful title headings for each. One particularly emotionally wrought chapter simply titled Love finds Moses faced with a gut-wrenching choice that tests the extent of his caring for Milla and is sure to cause viewers to question their own capacity for love. This individual scene encapsulates the film’s theme of contentment and understanding in the midst of chaos. The Finlays and Moses begin the film as a toxic stew of mistrust, strife, and anger, but through coming together in the service of lifting up Milla through a tough time, they find a ray of grace and light not only for her but for themselves as well. Milla is drawn to Moses in part because she conflates his embrace of his deadly flaws with fearlessness as a young woman facing the scariest diagnosis in the world. Despite her youthful misreading of Moses’ personality and behavior, it’s her happiness with his flaws and the notable improvement in her own life that eventually has an effect on not only her parents, but Moses himself. As her parents’ acceptance of her relationship with Moses and his presence in her life grows, the strength and comfort this offers Milla during a particularly tough time rubs off on Anna and Henry and their own struggles. Grief has a tendency to bring people closer together and witnessing the extension of grace among others also has a bit a contagiousness for those given the chance to observe.
Babyteeth takes a while to gain steam as you watch characters that seem irredeemable make boneheaded decision on top of boneheaded decision, although investment in disliking the people you are watching onscreen still counts as a film successfully getting viewers to care about what they’re watching. But as the message of the film becomes clearer and the emotional arcs of the characters come full circle, the film raises in poignancy and quality. In her directorial debut, Shannon Murphy is able to lead an exceptional cast in displaying the full array of their talents with Eliza Scanlen, Essie Davis, and Ben Mendelsohn all putting on good performances. Scanlen adds to her growing resume of quality performances, reinforcing her as a young talent to watch. Toby Wallace also introduces himself to those unfamiliar with a fantastic performance as a troubled kid with a good heart and conscience lurking beneath the grime that can only be coaxed out by people that finally show him grace and patience. Babyteeth is quality indie entry into coming of age genre and a notable debut for Murphy.
Image: IFC Films
