Toby Wallace Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Eden’ (2025), starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, Toby Wallace and Felix Kammerer

August 29, 2025

by Carla Hay

Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby in “Eden” (Photo by Jasin Boland/Vertical)

“Eden” (2025)

Directed by Ron Howard

Culture Representation: Taking place from 1929 to 1934, on the Galapagos island of Floreana in Ecuador, the dramatic film “Eden” (based on real events) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one Latin person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Several settlers on the remote island of Floreana have various conflicts with each other, which get worse as food resources become scarce.

Culture Audience: “Eden” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and filmmaker Ron Howard, and are interested in dramas based on true stories, but this movie is disappointing and mostly dull.

Felix Kammerer, Ana de Armas and Toby Wallace in “Eden” (Photo by Jasin Boland/Vertical)

Watching the shallow historical drama “Eden” is like being stuck on a miserable island with pretentious and/or predatory people. Although the characters are based on real people, most of “Eden’s” cast members have obvious fake accents. That’s not the only problem with “Eden.” A story that should be mostly suspenseful is instead mostly sluggish, with a clumsily handled showdown crammed in toward the end.

Directed by Ron Howard and written by Noah Pink, “Eden” had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie takes place from 1929 to 1934, on the remote Galapagos island of Floreana in Ecuador. “Eden” is a dramatic version of real events, but the dialogue and direction make it look like a slightly pompous soap opera.

“Eden” (formerly titled “Origin of Species”) is told in chronological order and begins with a caption stating that in the year 1929: “The world economy has collapsed in the wake of World War I. Fascism is spreading. People are desperate for a way out.”

A German botanist named Dr. Friedrich Ritter (played by Jude Law) and his lover Dore Strauch (played by Vanessa Kirby) have relocated to Floreana to isolate themselves and to live in their own version of utopia. Dore has multiple sclerosis that has made one of her legs disabled. Friedrich has convinced Dore that living on the island can cure her multiple sclerosis. This unrealistic medical prediction is one of many indications of how out-of-touch Friederich is.

The caption in the beginning of the movie further states: “The world learns of Ritter’s isolated existence through his letters, picked up by the rare passing vessel. Ritter’s mission: to write a radical new philosophy that will save humanity from itself.”

Friedrich, who is atheist, is often seen typing letters that have his rambling anti-government philosophies. For example, Friedrich says in one of his rants: “Democracy leads to fascism, which leads to war.” The movie often shows Friedrich talking out loud to himself as he writes pretentious drivel such as, “What is the true meaning of life? Pain. In pain, we find truth. And in truth, salvation.”

For someone who wants to be “left alone,” Friedrich as a hypocritical way of showing it. Allowing his letters to be picked up by passing vessels is an indication that he definitely wants attention from the “outside world.” By the time the story begins in “Eden,” Friedrich’s letters have gotten media exposure, and he has become somewhat of a cult folk hero for disillusioned people who want better lives for themselves.

Not surprisingly, some people who know about Friedrich and his island existence have sought him out on Floreana. Two of these devotees are a married German couple named Heinz Wittmer (played by Daniel Brühl) and Margret Wittmer (played by Sydney Sweeney), who have sold all of their belongings to relocate to Floreana. The Wittmers hope to learn more about utopian living from Friedrich.

Heinz and Margret have moved to Floreana with Heinz’s son/Margret’s stepson Harry Wittmer (played by Jonathan Tittlel), who is 14 years old. Harry’s deceased mother was Heinz’s first wife. Soon after arriving at the island, Margret tells Heinz that she’s about three months pregnant.

Margret can be heard in voiceovers reading letters that she has written to her unnamed mother, who is never seen in the movie. Based on these letters, Margret’s mother seems to be stern and judgmental, because Margret gives an apologetic explanation for why Margret has radically changed her life by moving to Floreana: “I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but I cannot handle another lecture about marrying a man broken by the war. I am simply doing what you always taught me: supporting my husband.”

Friedrich’s voiceovers and Margret’s voiceovers somewhat clutter up the movie. Over time, these narrative choices for the film become more apparent because Friedrich and Margret (who’s a lot tougher than she looks) are the “alpha” partners in their respective relationships. However, these voiceovers don’t offer much substance to the overall movie because the depictions of these main characters are still very superficial.

Friedrich and Dore are standoffish to the Wittmers when the Wittmers first arrive on the island. Dore is especially skeptical that the Wittmers won’t be able to adjust well to the Foreana’s rough terrain. Food can become scarce. People on the island often have to deal with some of the island’s wild animals (such as packs of feral dogs) that want the same food. Floreana is also a tropical island that has deadly creatures, such as poisonous snakes.

Before moving to Floreana, Heinz was a personal secretary to the mayor of Cologne, Germany. Considering that Friedrich despises bureaucracy, you can easily predict his contempt for Heinz. Friedrich’s animosity toward Heinz grows even more when Heinz proves to be a better farmer than Friedrich.

However, the Wittmers definitely have difficulty adjusting to their new environment at first. Friedrich and Dore have an attitude that the Wittmers need to fend for themselves. There’s a scene were Dore coldly makes this comment about the Wittmers to Friedrich: “They’re clearly suffering.” And then, in the next sentence she abruptly says to Friedrich: “Shall we fuck?” It’s an example of the movie’s awful dialogue.

The island gets more residents with the unwelcome arrival of a seductive diva who loves to be the center of attention. She calls herself “Baroness” Eloise von Wagner-Bousquet (played by Ana de Armas), who has a murky background but clams to be a wealthy royal from Europe. It’s implied that the Baroness is a con artist with a phony identity.

The Baroness is accompanied by her two lovers, whom she treats like servants: Robert Phillipson (played by Toby Wallace) is an extrovert. Rudolph “Rudy” Lorenz (played by Felix Kammerer) is an introvert. The Baroness is a manipulator who likes to make Robert and Rudy compete for her affections and attention. She’s also very high-maintenance and expects to always have the best possible food on the island, even if Robert and Rudy have to steal from their neighbors.

The Baroness and Margret clash with each other because they are complete opposites. Margret is offended by Baroness’ bawdy talk and indiscreet expression of sexuality. The Baroness has a dog named after the notorious sexual sadist Marquis de Sade. Margret is the type of person who gets upset just by seeing adults naked.

Most of “Eden” is about how all of these people have a very uncomfortable existence on the island. Jealousies, resentments, hunger and greed all get mixed into an emotional cauldron that reaches an exploding point. Friedrich isn’t the only delusional egomaniac on the island. The Baroness talks about her big plans to build a luxury resort on Floreana. It’s an idea that Friedrich and Dore obviously hate.

Unfortunately, “Eden” is a display of bad and unconvincing accents by many of the cast members. The worst offender is de Armas, whose stilted delivery is too affected, even if she’s portraying a con artist. Sweeney’s German accent isn’t consistent, although she does make the necessary effort to depict her Margret character as more interesting than Margret first appears to be.

Law gives a compelling performance as the brooding and sulking Friedrich, but like most of the “Eden” characters, there’s not much depth to Friedrich’s personality. Brühl (one of the few “Eden” cast members who is of German heritage in real life) doesn’t have an accent problem, but his character is written as too bland. Kirby doesn’t have much that she can do to give inscrutable and moody Dore any charisma because Dore is ultimately living in the shadow of Friedrich.

“Eden” stumbles by mishandling the irony of how Friedrich, who hates bureaucracy and rules, wants be the leader of this motley community, and he expects others to follow his unwritten rules. Instead, there are disjointed scenes that are meant to be provocative, but the impact is diluted by cringeworthy conversations or performances that look too manufactured. And there’s a childbirth scene in the movie that looks utterly fake.

One of the worst aspects of the movie is how unrealistic the costume design looks for characters who are supposed to be living on a remote island for a long period of time. The island doesn’t have laundry service or beauty salons, but you’d never know it from how polished everyone and their clothes look. Dore’s slightly messy hair is about the only thing that comes closest to what realistic hygiene would look like on a remote island with no basic amenities. A big part of the story is about the characters experiencing starvation because of the island’s food shortages, yet all the characters in the movie look very well-nourished.

“Eden” goes around in circles with repetitive fighting and betrayals until the inevitable descent into mayhem where not everyone gets out alive. By the time the movie comes to its messily contrived end, viewers will feel like “Eden” is an empty exercise that didn’t tell enough about the real people involved. For a more meaningful account of the real story, watch the documentary “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” which was released in 2014, and directed by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller.

Vertical released “Eden” in U.S. cinemas on August 22, 2025.

Review: ‘Inside” (2025), starring Guy Pearce, Cosmo Jarvis, Vincent Miller and Toby Wallace

June 20, 2025

by Carla Hay

Guy Pearce and Vincent Miller in “Inside” (Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution)

“Inside” (2025)

Directed by Charles Williams

Culture Representation: Taking place in Australia, the dramatic film “Inside” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class and are connected in some way to the Australian prison system.

Culture Clash: Three men living in an Australian prison have a collision course of personal entanglements inside and outside of the prison.

Culture Audience: “Inside” will appeal primarily to fans of the movie’s headliners and emotionally raw movies about people living in prison.

Cosmo Jarvis in “Inside” (Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution)

“Inside” is similar to other gritty prison dramas, such as 2009’s “Bronson” and and 2014’s “Starred Up,” where the performances are better than the absorbing but flawed screenplays. Redemption and punishment are open to intepretation. In other words, this is not the type of movie that gives easy answers or has a tidy ending.

Written and directed by Charles Williams, “Inside” is his feature-film directorial debut. The movie had its world premiere at the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. “Inside” takes place in Australia, where the movie was filmed.

Inside focus on three main characters, who are all living at the Gadara Prison for men:

Mel Blight (played by Vincent Miller) is a brooding 17-year-old who has recently been transferred from a juvenile detention center. Mel has one year before he is eligible for a parole release. He is incarcerated for brutally assaulting a schoolmate when they were both about 12 years old, during a playground fight. The other boy died from his injuries. Mel has been incarcerated since he was 12.
Mark Shepard (played by Cosmo Jarvis), who is in his 30s, committed first-degree murder when he was 13 years old. He is perhaps the prison’s most notorious inmate. A TV news report describes Mark as committing “one of the worst crimes this country has ever seen.” What did Mark do? He raped and murdered an 11-year-old boy.
Warren Murfett (played by Guy Pearce), who is in his late 50s, has a long history of committing crimes. His most recent prison sentence has been for assault and drug possession. Warren, who is in recovery for addictions to meth and alcohol, has an upcoming parole hearing in the beginning of the movie. Warren is considered to be a “model prisoner” who’s capable of saying and doing the right things stay out of trouble in prison.

When Mel first arrives at the prison, he’s assigned to be Mark’s cellmate. It’s one of the flaws of the screenplay, because in real life, it’s highly unlikely that a murderer of Mark’s notoriety would be matched with a teenage newcomer for a cell mate. In the movie, Mark mixes freely with the prison’s general population. In real life, a murderer such as Mark would be kept in a more restrictive part of the prison, partly for punishment and partly for the prisoner’s own safety.

What “Inside” portrays accurately about the prison system is that inmates who are convicted of first-degree sexual murderers of children are considered the lowest of the low in prison hierarchy. These types of murderers often have targets on their backs to be singled out for assaults or worse by other inmates and/or prison employees. One of the subjective questions presented throughout “Inside” is whether not Mark is worthy of forgiveness. Without revealing too much of the movie’s plot, there’s a reason why the lives of Mel, Mark and Warren intertwine, other than the fact that they are all living in the same prison.

Mark has become a born-again Christian, who preaches at the prison chapel, but there are numerous people inside and outside the prison who despise him and want Mark to die. Australia does not have the death penalty. And some people who believe that Mark has changed for the better believe that he should be paroled because he committed the murder when he was a child. Mark also wants to be paroled, but he knows the odds are stacked against him.

Mel does not know what crimes Mark committed when Mel becomes Mark’s cellmate. However, Mel instinctively feels uneasy around Mark and asks to be transferred to another cell. In the meantime, Mel is careful not to do anything that might anger or offend Mark. For example, he agrees to play keyboards during Mark’s chapel services.

Mark shows Mel some illustrations that Mark made. These illustrations look like they were made by a child, which is an indication that Mark has some developmental issues. The point the movie is trying to make is that Mark might be a man physically, but emotionally, he has some child-like qualities. There are indications that Mark could be on the autism spectrum, but there is no discussions in the movie about Mark possibly having this medical condition.

Mark talks like he’s got a mouthful of marbles, but when he’s up on the chapel pulpit preaching, he has a commanding presence and gets people’s attention, even if some of that attention is jeering and heckling from some people in the audience. Mark also speaks in tongues and rants in Latin when “the Holy Spirit” overtakes him. Is Mark a fraud? Or has he genunly become a pious and remorseful person?

Meanwhile, prison officials decide that Warren would make a good mentor to troubled Mel, who is usually quiet but who occasionally lashes out with a violent temper. For example, there’s a scene where Mel has some type of angry meltdown and starts bashing a chair at a prison window that doesn’t break. Flashbacks and voiceover narration from Mel throughout the movie reveal that he has unresolved issues about his own father’s imprisonment. (Raif Weaver has the role of pre-teen Mel in these flashbacks. Angus Cerini has the role of Mel’s father.)

Warren and Mel develop a tentative friendship that is almost like a father/son relationship. Warren has his own parental issues, including an estrangement from his young adult son Adrian Murfett (played by Toby Wallace), who has a short but impactful scene in the movie. One of the things that Mel and Warren like to do on a regular basis is a game where Mel asks Warren trivia questions about pop culture, and Warren does his best to answer the questions correctly. These moments are some of the few comforting interactions in what is otherwise a depiction of an often-bleak and tension-filled existence.

Mel battles with feelings of self-hatred and doesn’t have much hope that he could be paroled early. He says in a voiceover: “People like us shouldn’t be released. We’re broken … You can see it in us, even as kids.” The movie subtly floats the ongoing “nature versus nurture” debate of whether or not hardcore criminals are born or made, without leaning more toward one side over the other.

Miller (who makes his feature-film debut in “Inside”) and Peace give authentically raw performances as the emotionally damaged Mel and Warren, who both have personal demons that they don’t like to discuss out loud. Mel has barely repressed rage issues that Mel doesn’t know how to handle. Warren has a world-weary attitude of regrets that he admits to but wants to forget. The performance of Jarvis as Mark is much more complex because it keeps people guessing about how sincere Mark is about being redeemed.

Many movies about prison depict a constant sense of danger and inmates with big personalities. “Inside” has those elements but also skillfully portrays the monotony of living on a regimented prison schedule and the ways that certain inmates build trust with each other in an environment that often teaches that no one can be trusted. As hopeless and grim as life can be in prison, “Inside” also shows in unflinching ways that prison reform can be difficult for some incarcerated people if life on the outside of prison is tougher to navigate than being inside prison.

Quiver Distribution released “Inside” in select U.S. cinemas on June 20, 2025. The movie was released in Australia on February 27, 2025.

Review: ‘The Bikeriders,’ starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus

June 18, 2024

by Carla Hay

“The Bikeriders”

Directed by Jeff Nichols

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in the Chicago area, from 1963 to 1973, the dramatic film “The Bikeriders” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A woman struggles to keep her marriage intact as her husband gets more involved in a motorycle gang called the Vandals.

Culture Audience: “The Bikeriders” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and history-based stories about motorcycle gangs.

Mike Faist and Jodie Comer in “The Bikeriders” (Photo by Kyle Kaplan/Focus Features)

“The Bikeriders” could have been a typical macho movie about a gang, starring actors who are much better-looking than the average gang member. This gritty drama has a lot of predictability, but it avoids some clichés by having a female narrator for an otherwise very masculine film about a violent gang. Jodie Comer gives a standout performance in the role of the movie’s narrator/chief protagonist, who tells the story of this dangerous and dysfunctional American gang from her perspective. “The Bikeriders” had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, “The Bikeriders” is inspired by photojournalist Danny Lyon’s 1968 non-fiction book “The Bikeriders,” which chronicled Lyon’s four years as a member of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The movie takes place from 1963 to 1973, with the story told in non-chronological order. Some viewers might be confused or annoyed by this timeline jumping. The gang at the center of the story is the fictional Vandals, which began in Chicago and eventually expanded to other cities throughout the Midwest. (“The Bikeriders” was actually filmed in Cincinnati.)

“The Bikeriders” structures the narrative by having it in the context of former Vandals insider Kathy (played by Comer) telling the story of the gang to a journalist named Danny (played by Mike Faist) during a series of interviews in 1973. The movie then has several flashbacks to Kathy’s life as the girlfriend and then wife of Vandals member Benny Cross (played by Austin Butler), who becomes increasingly unstable and at risk of dying while he’s in the gang. Kathy is the only substantial female role in the movie. All the other women in with speaking roles in “The Bikeriders” get very little screen time and mostly portray friends or acquaintances of Kathy.

Benny is a typical brooding outlaw, who doesn’t talk much about his past. However, Benny is clear about one thing: He has a passion for motorcycle riding, even though he’s had too many motorcycle crashes by any standard. Benny also has an arrest record, for things such as disorderly conduct, driving without a license, and resisting arrest. After he joins the Vandals, Benny will get involved in more serious crimes.

Benny, who has spent much of his life as a loner, finds camaraderie in the Vandals. The leader of the Vandals is a menacing brute named Johnny (played by Tom Hardy), who expects unwavering loyalty to the gang at all costs. And Benny is a very loyal member. The opening scene in the “Bikeriders” shows Benny getting brutally beaten up by two men in a bar just because Benny refuses their demands to take off his Vandals motorcycle jacket.

There’s a scene in “The Bikeriders” were Johnny says he was inspired to create the Vandals motorcycle club after seeing Marlon Brando in “The Wild One,” the 1953 drama in which Brando has the role of Johnny Strabler, the troublemaking leader of a motorcycle gang. It’s no coincidence that Johnny has the same first name as this iconic movie character. Hardy’s performance in “The Bikeriders” is obviously influenced by Brando’s performance in “The Wild One.” Benny and Johnny form a close friendship, in which Johnny becomes a mentor to Benny.

The other core members of the Chicago chapter of the Vandals are practical-minded Brucie (played Damon Herriman), who is Johnny’s right-hand man; easygoing Cal (played by Boyd Holbrook), who’s originally from California; eccentric Zipco (played by Michael Shannon), who was rejected when he volunteered for military duty for the Vietnam War; fidgety Cockroach (played by Emory Cohen), who is a family man; raggedy Funny Sonny (played by Norman Reedus), who asks to join the Vandals; and best friends Corky (played Karl Glusman) and Wahoo (played by Beau Knapp), who are like the Tweedledum and Tweedledee of the Vandals. There’s also an ambitious younger gang member, who is just called The Kid (played by Toby Wallace), and he has a pivotal role in the story.

When Kathy tells the story of the Vandals from her perspective, she is at various times sassy, jaded, nostalgic or heartbroken. “The Bikeriders” follows her journey from being relatively straight-laced and naïve about gang life to becoming so involved in gang life, it becomes very difficult for her to leave, out of fear of getting assaulted or killed. Most of the conflicts in her marriage to Benny are about how she wants him to leave the Vandals, but he stubbornly refuses.

The first time Kathy meets Benny, it’s 1963, and he’s playing pool at a bar that is a regular hangout for the Vandals. Kathy and Benny lock eyes in the way that people do in a movie that makes it obvious that they’re eventually going to get together. Benny and Kathy exchange the type of banter where they’re intensely attracted to each other but they want to play it cool.

And the next thing you know, Kathy is on the back of Benny’s motorcycle while they ride around town. Kathy says in a voiceover about the first time she rode on a motorcycle with Benny: “I have to admit, it took my breath away.” Benny is portrayed as a scruffy and tough James Dean type, who constantly has to prove to others that he’s more than just a pretty face.

At the time Kathy meets Benny, she already has a live-in boyfriend named David (played by Michael Abbott Jr.), who’s about 10 years older than Kathy. But Kathy’s relationship with David doesn’t stop Benny from pursuing Kathy. After Benny drops Kathy off at her house on the first night they meet (which is the first time an annoyed David sees Benny), Benny decides he’s going come back later and wait across the street for the entire night and part of the next day to see Kathy again.

This stalking would be a red flag for a lot of people, but Kathy is charmed and thinks it shows Benny must really be into her, even if she thinks Benny is a little unhinged and obsessive. These personality traits also apply to how Benny feels about the Vandals. Eventually, there comes a time when Kathy wants to choose between her and the Vandals.

Benny doesn’t have to say a word to David or get in a fight with David to literally drive David away. There’s a scene where David is very unnerved by seeing Benny waiting across the street, soon after Benny met Kathy. David storms into the house, has a brief but angry argument with Kathy, and then announces to Kathy: “We’re done!” David drives off in his truck with his possessions and is never seen in the movie again.

Kathy in 1973 is then seen smirking when she tells journalist Danny about what happened next between her and Benny: “Five weeks later, I married him.” The rest of “The Bikeriders” shows the ups and downs of the marriage of Kathy and Benny as he becomes involved in deadly crimes with the Vandals. The movie shows the expected fight scenes and gang rivalries.

The Vandals open up chapters in other cities (Milwaukee is mentioned the most), but Johnny has difficulty managing so many different chapters as the overall leader of the Vandals. Johnny doesn’t really want to admit he’s losing control of a rapidly expanding gang with various agendas, but other people see flaws in Johnny’s leadership, so there are inevitable power struggles. A few gang members occasionally challenge Johnny to replace him as the leader of the Vandals. Johnny gives these challengers a choice to fight him with their fists or with a knife.

“The Bikeriders” doesn’t have a lot of surprises but can maintain viewer interest because of the talented cast members’ performances. Comer and Hardy (who are both British in real life) have accents in this movie that will get different reactions. Comer’s Midwestern twang sounds very authentic and actually makes her plain-spoken, often-sarcastic storytelling have more resonance. Hardy (who’s doing yet another role as a mumbling tough guy) has an American accent that sounds a lot more contrived, although at this point Hardy has mastered the type of character who looks like he could hit someone and hug the same person within a span of seconds.

Butler’s depiction of Benny isn’t outstanding, but it’s not terrible either. Is he convincing as a gang member? The scenes where he’s on a motorcycle or being a “bad boy” lover to Kathy are better than his scenes where he’s in gang-related fights. Benny could have easily been the narrator of “The Bikeriders,” but writer/director Nichols wisely chose to avoid such a predictable perspective. Benny’s obsession with the Vandals is a hint that there’s a huge void in Benny’s life that isn’t fully explained.

It’s perhaps the biggest flaw of the movie: Benny is just too mysterious. He’s not exactly a gang member with a heart of gold, but the movie wants to keep people guessing until the very end: Is Kathy or the Vandals gang the one true love of Benny? The answer comes at the end of “The Bikeriders,” which isn’t a groundbreaking movie about motorcycle gangs but it’s satisfying enough for people who want to see a version of gang life with people who mostly look like Hollywood actors.

Focus Features will release “The Bikeriders” in U.S. cinemas on June 21, 2024. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on June 17, 2024.

Review: ‘Babyteeth,’ starring Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Emily Barclay, Eugene Gilfedde, Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn

June 19, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Babyteeth”

Directed by Shannon Murphy

Culture Representation: Taking place in Sydney, the drama “Babyteeth” has an almost all-white cast (with a few Asian characters) representing the middle-class.

Culture Clash: A teenage girl with a terminal illness falls in love with an older guy who’s a drug addict/drug dealer, and the relationship goes against her parents’ wishes.

Culture Audience: “Babyteeth” will appeal primarily to people who like intricate character studies that tackle difficult subjects through the perspective of one family.

Essie Davis, Toby Wallace, Eliza Scanlen and Ben Mendelsohn in “Babyteeth” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

How many times has this been done in a movie? A straight-laced teenage girl becomes rebellious by dating an older “bad boy” and clashes with her parents who don’t approve of the relationship. “Babyteeth,” which is set in Sydney, takes this well-worn concept and sneaks up on viewers by going down a path that most people won’t expect by the end of the film. It’s an impressive feature-film debut from director Shannon Murphy, who shows that she has a unique vision that is at times bold and experimental for the subject matter.

“Babyteeth” is also the first feature film written by Rita Kalnejais, who adapted the screenplay from her play of the same title. Each of the movie’s scenes is shown as a different title on the screen (something that most directors would never do), with descriptions such as “Anna and Henry’s Tuesday Appointment,” “Insomnia” and “Love.” And although youthful rebellion is a big part of the story, “Babyteeth” is also about how a child’s terminal illness can affect the marriage of the child’s parents.

The relationship that causes a lot of the chaos in the story is that of 15-year-old Milla Finlay and a 23-year-old small-time drug dealer/addict named Moses (played by Toby Wallace), who literally crashes into her when he runs on a train platform where Milla is waiting. By all outward appearances, Moses is a sketchy character: He’s unkempt, he’s got some tattoos his face and he has the look of someone who’s strung out on drugs.

Moses makes small talk with a stunned Milla, who looks every inch the sheltered schoolgirl that she is, with her neatly pressed school uniform and wide-eyed gaze. While Milla and Moses are talking, she gets a nosebleed. And then he takes his shirt off and cradles her while he uses the shirt to stop the nosebleed. Milla is immediately smitten, even though she eventually has to ask Moses to take his shirt off of her face because it smells so bad. (It’s an example of the film’s little touches of humor.)

It isn’t long before Moses tells Milla that he’s homeless, and he sheepishly asks her for money. She gives him $50, but she coyly tells him that since she gave him this money, he has do something for her in return. The next thing you know, Moses is giving Milla a choppy haircut at his mother’s house.

Moses’ single mother Polly (played by Georgina Symes) breeds and trains Bichon Frise dogs as her job. She lives with Moses’ pre-teen brother Isaac (played by Zack Grech), who gets along well with Moses, but their mother most certainly does not. Polly has so much animosity toward Moses that when she sees him with Milla in her house, she immediately calls the police to report a break-in.

Moses and Milla then run off, and Milla (who’s an only child) impulsively invites Moses over for dinner at her place. Milla’s surprised parents—psychiatrist Henry (played by Ben Mendelsohn) and homemaker Anna (played by Essie Davis)—try to be polite and accommodating, but they’re actually horrified that Milla has brought home an older guy who is an obvious bad influence on their daughter.

During dinner, Milla mentions that she still has her baby teeth, “which is an aberration for someone as old as me.” When Moses opens Milla’s mouth to look inside, this suggestive flirting becomes too much for Anna, who yells at Moses to stop. And there’s a reason why the movie is called “Babyteeth,” since the teeth are symbolic of Milla’s innocence, and this symbolism is made very clear in another scene later in the movie.

Although Anna and Henry both disapprove of Moses when they first meet him, Anna is more protective of Milla than Henry is. “What have you done to my daughter?” Anna asks Milla. “I killed her,” Milla replies. The next day, Milla tells Anna that she thought Anna was being rude to Moses. Anna responds, “He’s got problems!” Milla shouts back, “So do I!”

And those problems are health-related, because Milla has cancer. She was in remission, but the cancer has come back with a vengeance. Milla undergoes chemotherapy, and since she loses all of her hair, she wears various wigs throughout the movie. At first Milla is self-conscious about no longer having her real hair, but then she learns to embrace different wigs to express herself.

Meanwhile, Henry and Anna are having issues in their marriage. Henry has prescribed several medications for Anna, which cause her to have mood swings. Their sex life (shown in near the beginning of the film) happens in furtive moments, such as in Henry’s office, and has become pretty unfulfilling for both of them.

Therefore, it’s not a surprise when Henry takes notice of a pretty, slightly offbeat woman who lives in the neighborhood. Her name is Toby (played by Emily Barclay), and Henry first meets her while he’s walking in the neighborhood and she goes looking for her missing dog, which is also named Henry. Toby is in the advanced stages of pregnancy, but when Henry meets her for the first time, she’s smoking a cigarette.

Henry admonishes Toby for smoking. Toby isn’t the brightest bulb in the drawer. She tells Henry that smoking while pregnant is okay because she read it online somewhere. In spite of Toby’s intellectual shortcomings, it’s obvious that Henry is kind of attracted to her.

There’s also a subplot that doesn’t work too well in the film: Milla plays the violin as a hobby and is in a small music class with a pre-teen violin prodigy named Tin Wah (played by Edward Lau). Milla’s music instructor Gidon (played by Eugene Gilfedder) used to work with Anna (who plays the piano) when Gidon and Anna were touring as part of a classical music group several years ago. Gidon apparently was or is in love with Anna, but the feeling wasn’t mutual. Aside from Gidon noticing that Milla seems to be in love after she meets Moses, the Gidon character is fairly unnecessary to the story.

Anna still feels guilty over not being there for Milla much as she wanted to be when Milla was a baby, because of Anna’s work commitments at the time. It’s probably why Anna feels very overprotective of Milla and wants to have a close relationship with her daughter, who is pulling away emotionally from her parents and is caught up in the idea of getting Moses to be her boyfriend.

Even though Moses is sleazy, he’s still wary of getting involved with an underage girl. Meanwhile, Milla is already calling him her “boyfriend,” and she asks him to be her date to her 10th grade formal dance. Her giddy reaction when he says yes is an example of how much Milla is still a child.

Milla’s parents have every reason to be concerned about Moses, because shortly after Milla and Moses start dating each other, Moses breaks into the Finlay home to steal medication. Anna catches him in the act and Henry is ready to call the police, but Milla begs him not to do it.

Thus begins a pattern for most of the movie: Moses does something selfish and reckless, one of Milla’s parents (usually Anna) orders Moses to stay away from Milla, but then the parents let Moses back into their lives. The only logical explanation for this back-and-forth is that the parents are torn about what to do.

On the one hand, they know that Moses is too old to be dating their daughter and he isn’t a great guy. On the other hand, they know Milla might not live long and they want her to be as happy as possible. And that “nothing left to lose, live in the moment” mentality is why Milla fell so hard and fast for Moses.

There’s a particularly effective (and visually stunning) scene where Milla and Moses end up at a nightclub together. It’s a turning point in their relationship because it’s the first time that she’s taken into his world of nightlife partying. And it’s the first time that Moses shows jealousy when Milla gets attention from another guy.

Scanlen, Mendelsohn and Davis all give dynamic and believable performances as the dysfunctional Finlay family. Although all three of these characters make some cringeworthy choices in the film when it comes to their interactions with Moses, “Babyteeth” effectively shows that the trauma of cancer can cause people to do things that they might not normally do.

“Babyteeth” isn’t a typical angsty teen drama about a girl who’s dating someone her parents don’t really like. The last third of the movie takes a very dark turn that might be disturbing for some viewers. However, “Babyteeth” is an emotionally stirring character study of what people will do to cope with pain and mental anguish that they really don’t want to talk about having.

IFC Films released “Babyteeth” in select U.S. cinemas, digital and VOD on June 19, 2020.