Dogtooth
Inscrutable was the first word that came to mind after watching Dogtooth. As the closing credits rolled, I sat there wondering what I had just witnessed, similar to the first time I saw David Lynch’s Eraserhead.
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos‘ conundrum of a film is a hard one to pin down.
Dogtooth poses a lot of questions and answers almost none. Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou leave it up to you to parse everything you’ve watched and decide what it all means.
Why are the parents keeping their almost-grown children isolated — essentially captive — from the world beyond their small rural compound? Why are they teaching them alternative meanings to words of things outside their compound (e.g., sea: a leather armchair with wooden arms; motorway: a very strong wind; excursion: a very resistant metal used to construct floors)? Why is the son allowed conjugal visits, but the daughters aren’t?
Your list of questions grows and grows.