Babyteeth: Eliza Scanlen stars in Australian comedy

Eliza Scanlen is having quite the moment. She seemingly appeared out of nowhere, shaking audiences to their core as the conniving Amma in Sharp Objects. It’s no easy task to stand out when you’re acting alongside Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson, but that’s exactly what she did, cementing herself as one of Hollywood’s biggest rising stars.

Her next big project is Greta Gerwig’s big screen adaptation of Little Women. (The 20-year-old actress plays Beth March) But before she appears in cinemas this Christmas, she's making the festival rounds with the Australian curio Babyteeth.

Scanlen continues her rebellious streak playing Milla, a terminally ill teenager who makes every parent’s worst nightmare come true when she falls in love with a small-time drug dealer. As she cycles through dodgy hairstyles and wigs as any teen does when they're in the throes of experimentation, Milla causes chaos in her household when her morals fly out of the window in the name of first love and lust.

The cast is a who’s who of Australian actors that aren’t Nicole Kidman, with Ben Mendehlson and The Babadook’s Essie Davis portraying Milla’s scandalised parents.

The film is heading for the canals as it arrives at the Venice Film Festival. As one of only two films with female directors in the competition, most eyeballs are on Babyteeth as an outlier in a sea of prestige titles from male auteurs. As director Shannon Murphy’s debut feature, Babyteeth also comes as an oddity for a festival that rarely allows first-time directors into the competition line-up.

With no UK release date announced as of yet, the only chance to catch Babyteeth is in October when it makes a stop at the London Film Festival. Keep your eyes peeled for Eliza Scanlen and her lightning-fast ascent up the ranks.