Dogtooth review

Dogtooth (18, 97 mins)
Director: Giorgos Lanthimos
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

This deeply strange but curiously compelling Greek drama looks at three grown children who have never left the confines of the family home and garden, having been told by their father that if they stray outside they’ll be killed by a monster known as a cat. They have no knowledge of the outside world and are subject to experiments from their dispassionate father, leading them to frequently behave like children and believe that Frank Sinatra is their grandfather. As social commentary it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what the makers of Dogtooth are trying to say, but it certainly has some interesting ideas about the effects upbringing can have on behaviour and even sanity. A complete lack of explanation or motivation for the parents’ behaviour keeps things sinister and it’s filmed with a clinical technicality that only adds to the sense of oddness and unease.