BABYTEETH Trailer

Love comes along at an opportune time in Babyteeth, the feature debut of director Shannon Murphy.

Milla doesn’t have a ton of experience with boys, partially because she’s just a teen and partially because she’s had other things to deal with. She’s seriously ill, but Moses is either too kind or too messed up to care. Milla falls for his brash sensibilities, but her parents smell trouble in the older, small-time criminal. They also see the change in their daughter, though, and with so few things going right for her, they’re reticent to squash her joy.

This easily could’ve been turned into melodrama, but Murphy seems to have taken the material in a more nuanced direction. The trailer makes it seem like this is much more character-driven than the average sick teen movie, and strong buzz from the film’s festival run seems to back that up.

If true, that would explain this film’s surprisingly strong cast, with current ill young lady champ Eliza Scanlen falling for Toby Wallace’s Moses. Scanlen broke your heart as Beth in the most recent Little Women while Wallace carried the very charming and underseen Boys in the Trees. Even the parents attracted strong performers, with Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis taking on the fretting adults.

They’re going to release this in whatever theaters are open come June, but for most of us, this will probably be one we catch at home with its same-day VOD release. And with that strong festival buzz, this seems to be one of the surest bets for your money.

Babyteeth is directed by Shannon Murphy and stars Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Ben Mendelsohn, and Essie Davis. It will be released in the US in theaters and on VOD on June 19th, 2020. Further release dates are not currently known.

Does this film interest you? Let us know why in the comments!