Summary: Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a young, Christian girl obsessed with abstinence who speaks for a youth-based purity group. On one hand, she is child-like and innocent, while, on the other, she is condescending and tense due to her “sacred vow.” Yet, despite her feelings of constraint, she clings to her purity ring in order to get through her troubled home life, where her mother is bedridden by cancer and her step-brother (John Hensley) constantly smokes weed, clashes with their parents, and has sex with his latest girlfriend. When Dawn meets a young boy named Tobey (Hale Appleman), she falls head-over-heels in love due to his kindness, shy nature, and shared belief in chastity, but, at the same time, must struggle with the emerging sexual desires she feels towards him. Riddled by guilt and confusion, she has several encounters with Tobey that lead her to a gruesome and horrifying discovery: she suffers from a legendary condition called vagina dentata, or, “vaginal teeth” that turn her into a literal femme fatale.
Review: First off, I’m going to start by warning that people who are squeamish when it comes to violence and/or sex should steer clear of Teeth, because, while the nuclear power plants that constantly appear in the background suggest a cause for Dawn’s deformity, this story is not a satire on science — it’s a coming-of-age story of sexual discovery and self-acceptance. Dawn, especially in the beginning, is often a dislikeable character due to her holier-than-thou attitude and obsessive nature (she won’t even watch a PG-13 film), but, following the cruelty she faces and her subsequent discovery of her “adaptation,” I truly feel empathy for her. She’s, honestly, just a little girl inside of a teenager’s body, despairing over her mother’s illness and the sexual abuse that is suddenly thrust upon her. Following her violent discovery, Dawn desperately seeks answers, as well as comfort in others, who, for the most part, only treat her with cruel detachment. Growing up and discovering one’s sexuality is very difficulty for everyone, and Teeth reminds us that, in a world where there’s no person to guide you, it can become a miserable thing. A toothed vagina is a gut-wrenching concept that causes us to recoil and is meant to inspire in us the same level of disgust that Dawn feels towards regular sexuality — it’s not merely impure, it’s evil.
Jess Weixler’s performance is incredibly convincing: I begin to share Dawn’s fears, and she truly comes across as a young woman who is slowly descending into sexual deviancy and violence as a means of escape. John Hensley also delivers an impressive performance as Dawn’s twisted step-brother, swearing up a storm and verbally abusing his girlfriend, and, as repulsive as it may be, he plays a man who’s obsessed with his too-young sister quite well. Also, Hale Appleman and Ashley Springer both fair well in their pushy, sexually-repressed roles. The cinematography is fairly striking and the editing appropriately timed, but the soundtrack is really just… odd and often feels out of place.
Overall, Teeth is a film of sexual fear and discovery, empty human relationships and twisted legends, and, while I wish I could say it portrayed its message subtly, I can’t: you see the results of her toothed vagina’s wrath several times. With that said, it’s convincing and emotionally involving, and, while foul, is successful in the message that it wishes to convey: while being obsessively abstinent leads to emotional turmoil and threatening naivity, being openly sexual can be even more dangerous and harmful. Even though this film left a bad taste in my mouth and a fair share of strange images in my mind, it was thought-provoking and probably one of the best satires I’ve watched in a while.
