4 out of 5

Director: Giorgos Lanthimos

Its been called horror, one review even called it sci-fi, but Dogtooth, more rightly, is just whatever it is. A family has raised three children (one boy, two girls) in complete isolation from the outside world on an enclosed expansive homestead. Only the father travels outside, and various tactics have been used to convince the children that he may only do so thanks to maturity and certain tools. Complications arise from one outside connection – a woman the father brings into the home to sleep with the son. Now this is plotty sounding, but Dogtooth is not very straightforward. Its lays pieces out slowly, and leaves many bits up to interpretation or speculation. Which is wonderful, but requires some patience. At various points its hilarious, or disturbing, or annoying, or thought-provoking, all depending on how you want to take it, and what you think of the familys motivation for running things as they do. It is violent and graphic in moments (sexually graphic), but its not explicit when viewed in the innocent context in which it occurs. So again: Dogtooth is what is is. Even though the experience may leave you wanting more (or less), Ive found myself saddled with thoughts trying to pieces ideas presented in the film, and that, to me, makes it successful. The 4 out of 5 is only because of that slowness to the film, which is skillfull at the start (it lets you know a lot without telling you anything) but becomes lingering at certain points.