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Most teenagers have at least one big, overwhelming, and sometimes irrational crush before (hopefully) moving on to more stable relationships. But in Babyteeth, a teenager and her parents realize that she might not have enough time left for more than just one big, crazy crush.
Babyteeth stars Eliza Scanlen as Milla, a seriously ill sixteen-year-old whose life seems to have lost its meaning. But then she meets Moses (Toby Wallace), who’s much older and even more troubled. Milla falls head over heels in love with Moses—much to the dismay of her parents, psychiatrist Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Anna (Essie Davis), who’s taking every kind of medication available just to cope. Moses causes all kinds of problems for Milla’s family, but because he makes her happy, they decide to let him into their lives.
Throughout the film, the characters all struggle to come to terms with the changes they’re experiencing as Milla’s health worsens. Possibly the most moving part of the film, however, isn’t Milla’s battle; it’s her parents’. Milla just wants to be a normal teenage girl with a normal teenage life—going to formal dances instead of the hospital. She’s often appropriately irrational, as many teenagers are, but Scanlen’s performance helps to connect viewers to her.
Meanwhile, Milla’s parents struggle to cope with the fact that their daughter is slowly slipping away from them. They know all too well that their time with her is running out, and they deal with that awareness in their own ways. Anna swings from inconsolable and panic-stricken to over-medicated and generally incoherent. Henry seems to be the stable, more stoic one, but he’s quietly crumbling beneath the surface. Both want their daughter to be happy—and neither wants her to find happiness in a small-time drug dealer with questionable motives—but they eventually realize that they’ll need to make adjustments and let go of their own feelings.
Other characters, on the other hand, seem to float around the story without much purpose. They feel like they’re supposed to have an important part to play, but their significance simply doesn’t come through. And as Milla’s story plays out, the other characters tend to break up the story, contributing to the occasional lag in pacing.
Babyteeth is definitely an unconventional film about a girl fighting for happiness in what could be her last days. It isn’t the typical sick-kid romance or a quirky comedy. It’s odd and unexpected and, at times, entirely heartbreaking.
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