Review: 'Babyteeth' Possesses a Quirky, Powerful Alchemy

Time relentlessly marches forward. Once gone, you can never get it back. That becomes clearer when someone has a life-threatening illness. "Babyteeth" is a melancholy, yet unconventional, film possessing a quirky, morbid humor. Milla (Eliza Scanlen) is a 15-year-old with cancer. Her worried, dysfunctional parents become more dismayed when she falls for 23-year-old Moses (Toby Wallace), who sells and is addicted to drugs.

"Babyteeth" is an Australian film directed by Shannon Murphy, in her directorial debut, written by Rita Kalnejais, based on her 2012 stage play.

Illness robs Milla of her youth. She often looks numb, weighed down by the gravity of illness. When a girl in the school bathroom asks to try on her wig, she reluctantly acquiesces. Milla hangs her head, her exuberance evaporated, a loss of her dignity. But Milla is also punctuated by outbursts of fury and moments of unadulterated joy, letting go, momentarily free. She yearns to be a normal teenager dancing, falling in love, reckless and carefree.

In a transcendent scene, Milla attends a party lit with kaleidoscopic colors. A song plays the fitting lyrics, "Don't take my life away." A woman wordlessly approaches. Standing cheek to cheek, fireworks from a film projection pattern their faces. It's a vibrant, strange, and poignant moment. Milla dances in blue lights, a mirrored split screen frame, as if dancing with herself. These scenes of beautiful alchemy capture evanescent jubilance.

Milla sees the humanity in Moses, captivated by his intensity and apparent fearlessness. She perpetually defends him. Milla venomously condemns her father for cavalierly prescribing medications, yet she loves someone with an addiction.

Anna (Essie Davis), Milla's mom, is emotional and explosive. Anna laments lost time. She regrets prioritizing her music career over spending time with Milla as a baby. She may also mourn a future without Milla. Davis is a brilliant actress, often portraying messy, complicated mothers, as in "The Babadook," "True History of the Kelly Gang," and here in "Babyteeth." She excavates depths of rage and pain; no one exhibits full throttle rage like Davis. Henry (Ben Mendohlson), Milla's dad, seems more stable, but he's falling apart too. He's a psychiatrist medicating Anna, violating ethical boundaries. They desperately try to bring their daughter happiness amidst tragedy, even letting Moses live with them. Anna says, "This is the worst possible parenting I can imagine."

The cinematography often features frames with the foreground blurred: peering through a window, door, or the slats of a hospital bed, intrusively peeking at Milla in private, intimate moments. Milla seeks to regain control as loss of control shrouds her life. She even tries to control her own death in a particularly devastating scene.

"Babyteeth" is a challenging film to watch, and not every decision works, such as superfluous intertitles. Yet it's a raw film yielding powerful performances and images of haunting beauty. It reminds us to savor each moment.