Skalde lives in a small rural community, far from a world that may no longer exist. She is an interloper in her own home, having been born to an ‘outsider’ mother and therefore marked by a social stigma she cannot easily erase. Displaying a loyalty to the codes of the community, she has earned the respect of the village elder. However, when she encounters a mysterious girl in the local woods, Skalde risks everything by befriending her, eventually giving the girl a home. She attempts to hide her subterfuge to maintain her standing with the villagers, but her plans threaten to unravel.

Sophia Bösch’s directorial debut is an intelligent adaptation of Helene Bukowski’s 2021 novel. The film is not only a story of survival and paranoia, but about the toll isolation takes on everyone in a world assumed hostile if not simply empty. In a poignant exploration of the human desire to belong, Bösch has crafted a story that navigates the realms of witches and wolves, offering a fairy tale-like vision of the end of the patriarchy. Combined with stellar performances and a rich atmospheric quality – conjured by cinematographer Aleksandra Medianikova’s captivating images – Milk Teeth features a world as eerie, unsettling and immersive as the themes it explores.

– Vanja Kaludjercic