None of the family members are given names in the film; the credits identify them simply by their familial roles .
it to Lanthimos's later work like The Lobster or The Favourite
But Christina, unlike the family, comes from the real world. She smuggles in contraband: a VHS tape of Rocky (the children are told it’s a nature documentary about a man fighting a bull) and eventually, a razor blade hidden inside a “Frank Sinatra” cassette tape.
Lanthimos explores how language shapes our perception of morality. By stripping words of their true meaning, the father strips his children of their ability to conceptualize rebellion. If you don't have a word for "freedom," you cannot desire it. 2. Biopolitics and Control dogtooth -2009-
In the years since its release, Dogtooth has aged like a fine, poisoned wine. It directly paved the way for Lanthimos’ English-language films: The Lobster (2015), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), and the Oscar-winning Poor Things (2023). Watch those films, and you see the DNA of Dogtooth : the stilted dialogue, the bizarre rules, the sex as clinical transaction, the sudden shocking violence.
The story (referring to the 2009 Greek film Kynodontas ) is a surreal psychological drama about a family living in complete isolation. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos , it follows a father who keeps his three adult children confined within their gated estate, using extreme indoctrination to prevent them from ever leaving. The Central Premise
A masterpiece of discomfort. 9/10. Bring a dumbbell. None of the family members are given names
The film was produced by Boo Productions, an Athens-based advertising company, with support from the Greek Film Center . Lanthimos collaborated with his long-time co-writer , who would later co-write The Lobster , The Killing of a Sacred Deer , and Poor Things . Thimios Bakatakis served as cinematographer, employing composed, off-kilter framing that cuts off characters' heads, shunts them to the edges of the frame, or places them in ways that underline the family's power dynamics . Yorgos Mavropsaridis edited the film with a clinical precision that enhances its detached, unsettling tone .
The premise of Dogtooth is deceptively simple and horrifyingly absolute. A father (Christos Stergioglou) and mother (Michelle Valley) keep their three adult children—a son and two daughters—entirely confined within a lush, walled compound. The children have never seen the world beyond their fence, believing that they can only leave once their "dogtooth" (canine tooth) falls out and that the "cat" is the most dangerous predator on earth.
In the end, Dogtooth is a film about thresholds—the threshold of the gate, the threshold of the mouth, the threshold of childhood. It argues that to grow up is to lose a tooth, to bleed, to walk toward a horizon you cannot yet understand. And whether that road leads to freedom or to oblivion… well, that is a secret the dogtooth knows, and it is not telling. Lanthimos explores how language shapes our perception of
Meanwhile, the Younger Daughter, jealous of her sister’s sexual attention from the brother, tries to seduce him. She fails and grows increasingly reckless. She secretly sneaks into the father’s office and watches the unedited security tapes, seeing her mother enter and leave the property.
The premise of Dogtooth is deceptively simple yet profoundly disturbing. A mother and father keep their three adult children—two daughters and a son—confined entirely within the walled compound of their suburban home. The children have never left the property, possess no knowledge of the outside world, and believe that the ultimate danger lies just beyond the tall wooden fences.