A vibrant story gives new life to the coming-of-age sick teen subgenre in the top new DVD releases for the week of Sept. 22.
“Babyteeth”: As teenager Milla (Eliza Scanlen) zones out while waiting for the train, a considerable distance from her peers, she looks a little too longingly at the tracks below. When the train barrels toward the platform, she sharply inhales after being shoved by a 23-year-old man, Moses (Toby Wallace). It’s the breath of fresh air she needs, in the midst of dealing with cancer, chemo and loneliness. As the two become friends, her parents, Anna and Henry (Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn), struggle between the sketchiness of the age difference, let alone Moses’ criminal leanings, and seeing their dying daughter reawaken to the world.
For a film swirling around death, it glows with life, with small moments carrying the most weight: Anna smiling at Milla passionately dancing to Sudan Archives at a music lesson, a pregnant neighbor going into labor, an impromptu photo session at the beach that leaves Henry attempting to hide his devastation in seeing Milla hint at her final days. Davis’ effortless charm shines through Anna’s drug-addled coping mechanisms, while Mendelsohn achieves melancholic disconnect without hiding Henry’s humanity. Director Shannon Murphy and writer Rita Kalnejais ultimately succeed in taking a coming-of-age subgenre that has become familiar in recent years and making it as lively as Milla’s bright blue wig.
Also new on DVD
“Babysplitters”: Two couples who aren’t wild about the concept of having a baby decide to share one among the four of them. Stars Maiara Walsh, Danny Pudi, Emily Chang and Eddie Alfano.
