Dogtooth (Kynodontas)

Release Year: 2009

Director: Giorgos Lanthimos

Review:  It is a cruel world full of degenerates, corrupting youth and destroying morality. Or at least that’s the fear of many parents as their children interact with the world outside of their control. Most see this as a necessary evil that their children must overcome. In ‘Dogtooth’, a Greek film by director Yorgos Lanthimos, two parents decide to take matters into their own hands and confine their three children to their house, barring them from any contact with the outside world. Everything that comes into the house is carefully monitored and the, now teenage, children have no idea that their situation is abnormal or have any idea of what life is like outside of their compound.  

The premise is brilliant. The parents create a world all their own for the children, creating their own rules for life and manipulating their children’s behavior to conform to what they feel is ideal. Their day-to-day interactions, and simply their goals in life are carefully crafted to ensure that the children never go beyond the fence around their yard. While the idea of filtering the world from their children may have come from a place of love, and it is clear that they love their children, their imprisonment is closer to torture and is disturbing to watch. Rather than forming exceptional young adults, the family is raising brainwashed zombies in the shells of humans.

While ‘Dogtooth’ is undeniable a fascinating conversation piece, as a film I thought it fell short. There are interesting, unsettling and thought provoking scenes which only highlight how great it could have been. Very rarely did I feel a scene capitalized on the premise it was conveying. There was so much that could have been done, and it felt like only the bare minimum was ever explored. I may be criticizing it more harshly than normal, as I was so enamored with the concept, and was hooked early on, only to be completely under whelmed with the execution.

Rating: 3/5