'Babyteeth': Eliza Scanlen impresses in soul-stirring cancer dramedy that knows when to twist the knife
The premise of 'Babyteeth' is hardly original. We've seen and cried over terminally ill teens in films such as 'The Fault In Our Stars', 'Five Feet Apart', and 'Me and Earl'. These films essentially follow the same format: two teenagers, who don't have much time left, fall in love, and slowly begin to live again, as they die. Some of these films handle the illness with sensitivity, while others prefer to romanticize death, and would rather not dwell on the ugliness of illness.
And then there's Shannon Murphy's 'Babyteeth', starring Eliza Scanlen and Toby Wallace, who unearth a novel freshness to this pattern, with a pleasantly eccentric tinge. The familiar tropes have been turned on their head, and that's what makes this film a heart-wrenching watch. The opening scene paves the way for the rest of the film: Milla (Eliza Scanlen) ponders suicide on a train platform, when she's unintentionally saved, or rather body-slammed by a junkie named Moses (Toby Wallace). He notices her nosebleed and without much ado, he rips off his shirt and stuffs it on her face to prevent it. He's the guy that parents would want to warn their kids about. But for Milla, who suffers from unknown cancer, he is somehow symbolic of a new change in her compromised life. Why? What is it about him that draws her in?
She lets him stay at her house even though her parents Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Anna (Essie Davis) are much against it, and she fights for him even when he is caught stealing meds in the middle of the night. Henry and Anna don't want to refuse their daughter's demands, as death is near -- how near, they're not sure. Everyone wonders, is he just taking advantage of her? But somehow, Milla doesn't see it that way. She sees the good in the greasy and blunt Prince Charming, and their relationship grows stronger through the film, with numerous hiccups of course.
While worried about their daughter's strange association, the parents have their own burdens to carry. Even without the imminent threat of death, they need medication to get through the day. Pain and the ever-present feeling of loss is a constant in that house, even though the family tries to disguise it with a little laughter and some obscure dancing here and there. There is a sense of devastation in the air, and yet, there is the frayed determination to persevere. Henry occasionally dips into his stash of morphine to prescribe Zoloft and Xanax to try and get Anna through the nerve-wracking challenges of looking after a daughter, who doesn't have much time left. They're trying to make their relationship work too, for instance, they have a Tuesday appointment for sex. They're a strange bunch, and they know it. And these little absurdities add to the flow of the film.
There's no cathartic resolution, and that's what makes the film painfully realistic. Murphy's power lies in her subtle tones, though the chapter headings for each scene jar the symphony. There are no expository dialogues in any form, and words are precious. Emotions are conveyed through actions, body language, and expressions, and each member of the cast rises superbly to the occasion. Scanlen leaves aside her docile Beth mantle from 'Little Women' and takes a different path to death in this film. While Beth quietly slipped away, Milla wants to make every move of hers an explosive one. It goes without saying Scanlen lightens up each frame she is in and says paragraphs and pages with just a poker-face expression. Wallace sinks his teeth into the character of Moses and brings new shades to the character as the film progresses.
'Babyteeth' is about the painful struggle to focus on what is, and rather what will or can't be. It twists the knife and provides a little soothing relief, if not the cure at the same time.