Movie Review: Dogtooth

I had heard Dogtooth would give Salo a run for its money (in terms of squeamish moments), but it doesn't even come close.  This film is Mary Poppins compared to Salo still.  That said, it takes a depraved, sick individual to create a film such as Dogtooth.  Hailing from Greece (I don't remember the last film I saw from Greece)... Dogtooth tells the story of a group of siblings being raised by parents who have never let them leave their house.  In their late teens, they see the world through seriously fucked up eyes.

There's nothing particularly eye-catching about the filmmaking itself.  The interesting thing here is the story, more specifically the characters.  What type of parents would do this to their children?  What type of teenagers would never ask why?

Basically, the father tells the kids that if they leave their property they could die.  They can only leave if and when their dogteeth fall out.  And they can only leave in a car.  You can only ride in a car if and when your dogteeth fall out.  So the father comes and goes, but everyone else stays.  To say that the children are socially awkward would be an understatement.  The parents teach them the wrong meaning of words (pussy is a flower that grows in the garden).

The father is a really strange character.  You get the sense that he's evil, but at times you think he's doing all of this to protect his children from the outside world.  He arranges for a woman to come over and have intercourse with the son (1 son, 2 daughters).  She breaks his trust about the situation and he beats her to a pulp.  Then things take a turn towards the even darker...

It isn't a gory movie by any means.  It also isn't something that will make your stomach churn like Salo.  But it is definitely dark, it is definitely out there and it definitely makes you question humanity.