The new (2019) special edition from Kino includes special features such as a new audio commentary with stars Papoulia and Passalis; a new conversation between Lanthimos and critic Kent Jones (courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center); archival interview with Lanthimos; deleted scenes; and trailers (one for the film, and the other for Alps). It also includes a reversible cover featuring the original poster.

If there ever there was a film that is best experienced without knowing a single detail, this unforgettable oddity from Greece is the one - this was Oscar nominated for best foreign in 2009.

A study of human conditioning in extremis, Dogtooth is set almost entirely within the confines of a stately home just outside the city limits. There, walled off by impressive shrubbery and a single gate, live three unnamed siblings and their parents. Though the brother (Christos Passalis) and his two sisters (Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni) are all within a stone’s throw of 20, there’s a childlike innocence to them, and it’s no wonder, for not once in their lives have they ever set foot beyond their property line.

With the exception of a telephone hidden away within a cupboard in the parents' bedroom, there’s no access to the outside world. The kids seem fairly well-educated, though they’ve inexplicably been taught some odd vocabulary substitutions by mum and dad, such as ‘keyboard’ for female genitalia, or ‘zombie’ for a small yellow flower found in the garden. They’ve also grown up with a mythology that the only safe way to venture outside of the grounds is by car, for lurking beyond the walls is a vicious monster, known as a cat, that kills instantaneously. And one is only old enough to leave the house when either of their canines have fallen out and grown back. In other words, never.

The father (who manages a factory of some sort) is the sole family member to leave the house on a regular basis, and the only other person the children have ever seen is Christina (Anna Kalaitzidou), a security guard from the factory who is brought to the house (blindfolded, naturally) on occasion to have sex with the son.

The youngsters spend their days creating silly competitive games, such as inhaling anesthesia to see who will wake up first, or engaging in various obedience exercises orchestrated by their parents. Their reality is solely a product of their parent’s imagination, which includes the belief that Frank Sinatra is their grandfather and that the toy airplanes they find in their garden are those that they see flying overhead.

Lathimos gives us no clue as to why the parents have raised their children under these conditions. There’s no indication that they are part of some religious cult, nor do they seem particularly insane. Is it merely a case of over-protectionism stemming from paranoia, or a radical example of isolationism? That we don’t know their motivation leaves us unsure how to respond to the film, for nearly every scene can be read as either darkly comical or disturbingly tragic. The framing is equally disconcerting, with heads often disappearing off the top of the screen, cut-off just as they are from society. Given the siblings’ circumstances, it’s unsurprising that there are hints of incest, but even beyond the film’s (very) explicit sequences there’s a sexually unsettling tone throughout.

The appearance of two well-known Hollywood blockbusters from the Eighties will be the catalyst for the events in the final act, but Lanthimos isn’t going to let us off easily. The film’s inconclusive ending is perfectly suited to the world it so wonderfully creates.

There was nothing "dark" or "funny" about this foreign snore fest. I feel like I lost 93 minutes of my life for nothing.

A very beautiful movie, and intensely disturbing, yet artfully restrained. Perhaps the most notable thing about the movie is that it has absolutely no exposition whatsoever. You're just presented with this family, a relatively robust and comfortable upper middle class family living in a gorgeous Greek country home with a massive garden and pool. There are weird things. For instance, the children have been taught to use words differently, specific words, words such as "telephone", which is something the parents don't want the kids to know exists. And then there are the liaisons that the father seems to be arranging for his son. He takes a female security guard from his work and brings her over to have sex with the son on a regular basis.
Oh, and yes: the three children, a boy and two fraternal girl twins, don't seem to have any names.
It's a fascinating narrative situation that Lyle Kessler explored in his play Orphans; the children have been systematically isolated and brainwashed their whole lives. Their mother is in on it, but its clear that the father is the instigator and driving force behind it all. He's not your stereotypical tyrant father. He does not shout or torment the children for torment's sake; he even brings an element of whimsy and wonder to the lives of the children, as when he leads them to believe the swimming pool is invaded by sea bream or that airplanes have dropped out of the sky and onto the lawn. He does, however, control his family by constantly pushing them toward his version of perfection, by ruthlessly beating his children in the rare instances when they do go against him, and by, in a pivotal point of the movie, forcing the eldest twin (known simply as "The Eldest") to do something nobody should ever have to.
Even with these climactic atrocities that reveal the father's true character, the most disturbing parts of the movie are the quiet ones, such as when the father says he will play the children a recording of their grandfather singing. He puts on a record of Frank Sinatra, and as Old Blue Eyes croons, the father translates Fly Me To The Moon into Greek, translating the song about love's exultation into another piece of brainwashing about the cruciality of insular family life; or at the parents' wedding anniversary when the twins dance and all the movements are so strange, childlike, alien to any recognizable style of dance from the outside world.
If you can't take quiet, European art movies, this one is definitely not up your alley, but if you can, this one delivers the goods.

I overall liked it, but the ending left absolutely no payoff for the viewer. We can assume that the trunk episode resulted in death, so the message of escaping from a brainwashed household is that you can't succeed? I thought it would have been much more interesting if we had this fish out of water experience first, and then something a little more climactic, but the ending was a huge letdown. It did linger on in too many areas as well, having all of these play scenes which didn't really build much character or add anything we hadn't already seen.

Funnily enough, I watched this film shortly after Bad Boy Bubby, and the similarities are extremely striking. It seems like the director may have had much influence from Bad Boy Bubby, in fact. However, Bad Boy Bubby was a more cohesive movie that had a clearer message about the horrors of captivity, incest, and propaganda, and the payoff was much, much better.

Overall, it was okay, but if you want a movie like this that is a hell of a lot better, go watch Bad Boy Bubby.

After seeing Killing of the Sacred Deer and The Lobster, I went looking for more stuff by Lanthimos and decided on Dogtooth. I had relatively high expectations I suppose but aside from providing some laughs with it's quirks, and its disturbing nature, I found nothing here. I'll assume I'm missing the point, but the fact is after the first hour I couldn't wait for the end. The only reason I kept watching was because of the two Lanthimos movies I had enjoyed. I kept thinking there would be something there that might help me understand what his point was - or why he went to the trouble of making this movie. But there was nothing. It felt to me like they film maker himself lost interest. The last 30 minutes especially are a colossal waste.

I will try not to include any spoilers in this review. This is a psychological/bizarre movie about control and isolation. The first time I saw this movie, I thought how can someone be so cruel to their children. There are a couple of comic interactions to lighten the mood a bit but if you look at the overall premise of the movie, all you can say is....WOW! If you are not offended by brief nudity, sexual expression and psychological/bizarre behavior, this may be a good movie for you. I found it interesting as a topic of what some parents will do to save their children from the realism of the world.

Wow, this is a tough watch and not for the faint of heart. An extremely dysfunctional family in Greece living behind a high fence is terrorized by a brutal father who keeps control of them with no knowledge of the outside world. Explicit sex, incest, violence all play a part in a story filled with metaphors. This one will have you thinking long after the end of the movie, but fasten your seat-belts, because it isn't a fun ride.

...but this was a trial for me. I'd recommend starting with the trailer which puts you into this strange world much more comfortably than the film itself. Yorgos Lanthimos deserves credit for his wit and cinematic skill as well as the control he has over his actors, but whatever this film wants to say about the perils of modern life, due to the lateness of the hour I started it, I kept wanting to hurry it along to whatever conclusion was waiting. It's strong sexual content, in particular, seemed at odds (and an excuse) given the innocence it seems to want to preserve. His later films, both "Lobster" and particularly the haunting "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" seem to succeed with much more clarity, than the world of "Dogtooth." But that's just my opinion.