DOGTOOTH
(director/writer: Yorgos Lanthimos; screenwriter: Efthymis Filippou; cinematographer: Thimios Bakatakis; editor: Yorgos Mavropsaridis; cast: Christos Stergioglou (Father), Michelle Valley (Mother), Christos Passalis (Son), Aggeliki Papoulia (Older Daughter), Mary Tsoni (Younger Daughter), Anna Kaiaitzidou (Christine), Alexander Voulgaris (Dog Trainer); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Yorgos Tsourgiannis; Kino Lorber; 2009-Greece-in Greek, with subtitles)
“An insufferable film with a twisted plot.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A horror/comedy fantasy film meant as an allegory on man’s inhumanity, that explores the dire effects over isolation and the spreading of fear by the sicko humorless parents of victimized kids of the white collar factory worker (Christos Stergioglou) and the stay-at-home mother (Michelle Valley). They imprison their 3 teenage children (son Christos Passalis, older daughter Aggeliki Papoulia and younger daughter Mary Tsoni ) by keeping them stuck in their walled-in villa because the outside world is too dangerous.
Christina (Anna Kaiaitzidou), a security guard at the father’s factory, is the only house visitor, who sometimes comes to the house to sexually service the son.
It’s an insufferable film with a twisted plot. The Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Lobster”/”The Killing of the Sacred Deer”) co-writes it with Efthymis Filippou. It’s a well-made but baffling film, that’s not for all tastes (certainly not mine).
The Dogtooth is a mythical tooth that when the children get them the parents say it will be safe to go outside.
It played at the Cannes Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 6/21/2025 GRADE: C+
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