A Black Eye and Two Kisses: An Ethel Cainian analysis of the film Dogtooth

Where do I begin? There is so much in this film to dissect that I feel my hands are left bloody and shaking with little progress made.  

As silly as it sounds, the one thing that kept circulating through my mind was a lyric from Ethel Cain's song Crush: "I owe you a black eye, and two kisses.” The dynamic between the children and their parents—the father most significantly—is one of extreme intrigue, resulting in nothing other than discomfiting shifting from foot to foot, nails chewed down to the nail bed, and a weight here, in my stomach, that I cannot seem to free myself from. 

A BLACK EYE. How can two parents, who have pledged themselves to the love, safety, and happiness of their children in the very act of bringing them into this world, hurt them so? A tale of tyranny is told yet again as we witness the malleability of minds untouched by freedom—intentionally stripped of an environment that could have allowed them to evolve. 

We bear witness to the reality that within this isolated hell, the father and the mother held every opportunity to manufacture a utopia for their children. However, the selfishness of humanity—the will for domination, very apparent in the detrimental patriarchal structure of the household dynamic—and violence seem to have bubbled and spilt over the fence they have pruned so perfectly. 

Every word they mislead them to believe, every instance of sexual freedom the brother experiences rather than the girls, and every moment that the family was seen through the unnerving perspective of the father contributes heavily to a larger conversation about the interplay of power, propaganda, and patriarchy. 

TWO KISSES. And yet, after we witness the frightening displays of both conspicuous and inconspicuous abuse, there is a scene that could be very easily forgotten by the inattentive eye: the son crawls into bed with his mother and father seeking protection, and his father embraces him groggily. Is it possible for traces of love to be found in a monotonous wasteland of abuse and restriction? 

We witness a certain fragility that is deemed unacceptable by the patriarchy, outlining the reality that vulnerability—symbolized by this state of sleep, all three individuals find themselves—remains a sentiment that strips us down to our most fundamental mechanisms. Much can be said about the fact that this masculine vulnerability is a moment shared between men—a silent moment of understanding—in complete darkness. As if this is a sin gently shrouded by the cover of night. And still, the mother lies unembraced. Women are left again to their own devices, forced to shoulder the burden of vulnerability and insecurity alone.  

Although this wasn’t my favourite movie, I do believe there is much to be said about it. It forces us to reflect upon humanity, mental health, tyranny, as well as the effect of the nuclear family sans the community of the vast world, which so freely exists outside the meagre cluster of three or four individuals. How can two individuals wreak so much harm and havoc? 

The will of tyranny battles yet with tales of freedom.