Milla Meets Moses

There are a lot of things this movie does great, I want to comment right off the bat. However, part of me was frustrated I didn't love the whole movie, and I think there were just a few things holding it back from greatness. As such, I'm probably going to cover more negatives than positives here. If anything it's probably more like the equivalent of a 7.5 rather than a 7, so I hope it doesn't read too much like I'm bashing on the movie.

On the topic of positives: the acting across the board is very strong, particularly from Ben Mendelsohn, who seems to shine no matter what movie he's in. It captures the feeling of living in the Australian suburbs with an uncanny accuracy (can confirm, I've been there all my life), it uses music extremely well (especially one scene around the halfway mark that uses the anxious yet beautiful 'Bizness' by Tune-Yards), there are some genuinely emotional moments, and the direction is largely good.

I say largely good because aspects of how the movie looked would be one of my complaints. It adopts a handheld style for much of the runtime, and honestly it works the vast majority of the time. That being said, I couldn't help but notice a couple of instances where it was too rough; where it stopped looking like handheld camerawork and instead just looked like shoddy camerawork. These moments were rare, but one instance early on- where it looked like the camera banged into something and jolted slightly but noticeably- was distracting.

Speaking of distracting: so were the occasional Flea-Bag style glances to the camera from the main character. I'm sure there was a purpose, but it was lost on me (such a minor comment though, and not really a flaw if it just comes down to me being a dummy and not understanding).

Also, the film has a very episodic feel that creates a mild sense of repetition in parts. For just under two hours, it does feel a tiny bit long. I think you could have kept it episodic and maybe shortened some sequences, or excised one of the subplots (the violin teacher stuff didn't add a whole heap to the story, in my opinion). Or: give the narrative more of a logical flow and make the series of events more coherent and satisfying; traditional, even. The risk with doing that would be making the already quite simple story feel dangerously cliche, and so I think the best solution would be to keep the episodic feel but with about 10-15 minutes trimmed off the run time.

Like I said, it's very good though. And the acting, music, emotional content, setting, and most of the visuals are clearly good, while some of those other aforementioned nitpicks- had they been addressed- could have made for a movie that I would've loved.

The story is well told; especially good is that they SHOW you about various aspects of the story, and dont just TELL you key points. You are SHOWN that the parents have a complicated relationship, and as such hers is likely going to be. Characters are well fleshed out with interesting foibles, tics and characteristics. I don't know if this is the work of the scriptwriter? The director? Or if the book was just that good that it inspired everyone to great heights.

I dont like stories about teenagers very much typically, but I'm VERY glad I watched this. It's probably the best Australian movie I've seen in many years.

This movie is pure love. It captured everything. I am so grateful for art like this to exist and to remind us we are alive. I think it's the best music I've ever heard in a movie in years. It is a masterpiece because it used everything this very diverse form of art has to offer to deliver such a palpable, direct, honest, and real taste of the beauty inherent to life and love. I'm always shocked when I discover a movie like this, stunned by the clarity and the truth of the vision it offers. Watch it, live it. Thanks to everybody involved in this piece of art.

It takes guts to take a subject like this and not play it safe, to give every character flaws, every relationship twists and turns and many quirks to the story line. I knew that there would be tears from the off but didn't anticipate feeling as emotionally invested in every character. Superb directing too - cinematic in places and claustrophobic in others. A beautifully crafted film. Not soppy, just really believable characters.

Well acted but very depressing.

Eliza Scanlan gives a fascinating performance as a young woman who's going through cancer treatment and falls for a drug addict who may or may not be good for her. Her parents (Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn) are dysfunctional and unraveling and have drug problems of their own. They don't like her daughter's boyfriend and under normal circumstances probably wouldn't tolerate him. But he's the only thing that brings their daughter some respite from the hell she's going through, so they sort of adopt him as their own.

"Babyteeth" is a coming of age movie that's set apart from others like it because of the protagonist's existential crisis. Scanlan's character is as immature in some ways as any sixteen year old, but at the same time is being asked to summon up reserves of maturity to deal with the ultimate curve ball life has to throw at us. How do you balance the emotional and hormonal ups and downs of teen romance with the possibility of your impending death?

The film is a bit monotonous in tone and starts to feel like a grind after a while. But again, it's worth seeing for the performances and for the unsentimental treatment of the subject matter that would have possibly segued into the maudlin in different hands. The ending scene is the most devastating thing I've seen in a movie this year.

Grade: B+