Raw emotions at the root of ‘Babyteeth’

“Babyteeth,” a dramatic — sometimes melodramatic — and troubling film about a once close-knit Australian family that’s challenged by their daughter’s illness, wastes no time in setting up how its story is going to be told.

The four principal characters are Henry and Anna (Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis), their high schoolage daughter Milla (Eliza Scanlen) and the ne’er-dowell older boy Moses (Toby Wallace) whom Milla meets and, against every wish her parents could imagine, falls for.

The relationship that develops between this quartet is presented in chapter form, with brightly colored letters splashing across the screen ahead of different segments. This storytelling approach is effective but is used a bit too often, and reaches a point where it becomes irritating.

The film opens with that meeting on Platform 4 as Milla, standing apart from her school friends at a train station, is seen breathing heavily, and is approached by a raggedy, red-eyed stranger named Moses, who helps her when she gets a sudden nosebleed, then asks her for money because, he says, he was just evicted.

The ensuing introduction of Anna and Henry — he’s a psychiatrist in his home office, she appears to be his patient but is definitely not — allows that the film is going to have at least a small measure of friskiness.

What follows is a series of introductory scenes, of people and situations, that are initially confusing but eventually explained. And though some of it remains murky, particularly the background of Moses and why, when he attempts to visit his mom and younger sibling, his mom calls the police, most of it is made clear enough to understand the behavior of these people.

The easiest person to know and empathize with is Anna, a woman who would do anything for her daughter. She has, it’s implied, already given up a successful concert pianist career to take care of her when she fell ill. But Anna is also a victim of insomnia, of wild mood swings, and is dependent on the anti-anxiety pills prescribed by her husband. Henry is more enigmatic.

There are moments of happiness, as well as moments of unrelenting misery. Things go wrong, boiling points are reached. The film veers toward becoming emotionally overwrought, but the actors and the director never let it get out of control. It all pulls together as an intense and beautiful film.

“Babyteeth” is on most streaming platforms June 19.