Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A terminally ill teen upsets her parents when she falls in love with a small-time drug dealer.
Babyteeth is a striking Australian debut from Shannon Murphy that distinguishes itself through its fragmented, chapter-based structure and an emotionally raw yet darkly comic tone. The ensemble cast — particularly Eliza Scanlen and Toby Wallace — delivers performances of startling authenticity, grounding the heightened premise in genuine feeling. Ben Fordesman's cinematography is inventive and restless, matching the film's emotional volatility with unusual compositional choices. The film feels genuinely singular in how it balances grief, adolescent desire, and parental dysfunction without resorting to sentimentality. The ending is quietly affecting but doesn't fully cohere — the episodic structure occasionally diffuses narrative momentum, and the final emotional payoff, while earned in parts, feels slightly unresolved.