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Teeth
2008 94 min United States of America R 16+
★5.6
Comedy, Horror
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Trailers
Description
Dawn is an active member of her high-school chastity club but, when she meets Tobey, nature takes its course, and the pair answer the call. They suddenly learn she is a living example of the vagina dentata myth, when the encounter takes a grisly turn.
Budget:
$2M
US Gross:
$347,578
Worldwide:
$2.34M
Starring
Jess Weixler
Actor
John Hensley
Actor
Josh Pais
Actor
Awards
Sundance Film Festival 2007
— Special Jury Prize (Drama)
Sundance Film Festival 2007
— Grand Jury Prize (Drama)
Key opinion
Teeth is a polarizing genre-blend that uses the vagina dentata myth to explore themes of female sexual agency, trauma, and repression. While some viewers praise the film as a darkly comedic, feminist-leaning social drama, others dismiss it as an uneven, tedious production with inconsistent tonal shifts.
| Acting | Jess Weixler’s central performance provides the necessary emotional complexity to ground the film's outlandish premise. | |
| Humor | The film functions best as a dark comedy, with several scenes—particularly the gynecological encounter—delivering successful, unsettling humor. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay is heavily debated: some see a coherent critique of abstinence and male aggression, while others find the narrative absurd, repetitive, and plagued by unresolved plot points. | |
| Pacing | The film’s tone is highly divisive; some appreciate the seamless shift between social drama and horror, while others feel the mixture is jarring, ineffective, or simply boring. | |
| Originality | Viewers are split on the decision to keep the titular 'teeth' largely off-screen; some find it a clever use of the unknown to build tension, while others feel cheated by the lack of visual payoff. |