Extraction is a micro-budget, coming-of-age short about a woman with a wisdom tooth coming through, the discomfort and pain an unwelcome obstruction in her coddled and infantilised life.

The film was created in response to the gen-z and millennial tendency towards infantilization. You can see it in the ‘cute’ or the kawaii as a dominant aesthetic, the hegemony of superhero films, young adult fiction read by 25-year-olds. Some of us even tell ourselves that we can't be held responsible or take accountability for our poor decisions because of the pop-scientific idea that our frontal lobe hasn't been developed and so we are incapable of thinking properly. In the words of journalist James Greig, ‘we are a generation of adult babies’. The art direction in the film speaks to this with jellycat collectables (toys for adults), a stanley cup (adult sippy cup) and a Lumi SAD lamp (sophisticated night light).

Our infantilization is of course not entirely self-afflicted, the economy is at fault for our extended adolescence, with many of us having no choice but to remain in our parents’ home. However, we can still decide to assert our dignity and refrain from becoming quarter-life teens, naive and dependent. This is what the film’s ending suggests when the woman finally takes matters into her own hands.

Wisdom tooth growth is a confusing and obsolete phenomenon, with no apparent rhyme or reason for their arrival in a person’s mid-twenties. In this film, the woman's wisdom tooth arrives to yank her out of hyper-comfort and cushty infantilization and into dignity and independence.

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Director Lola Shaw says: 'I wanted to make a film about my generation’s tendency towards infantilisation. You can see it in the ‘cute’ or the kawaii as a dominant aesthetic, the hegemony of superhero films, adult cartoons and young adult fiction read by 25-year-olds. Some of us even tell ourselves that we can't be held responsible or take accountability for our poor decisions because of the pop-scientific idea that our frontal lobe hasn't been developed and so we are incapable of thinking properly.

In the words of journalist James Greig, ‘we are a generation of adult babies’. The art direction in the film speaks to this with jellycat collectables (toys for adults), a stanley cup (adult sippy cup) and a Lumi SAD lamp (sophisticated night light).

I do know, that our infantilization is not entirely self-afflicted. I have no doubt that the economy is at fault for our extended adolescence, with many of us having no choice but to remain in our parent's home. However, I believe we can still decide to assert our dignity and refrain from becoming quarter-life teens, naive and dependent. This is what I am trying to say at the end of this film when the woman finally takes matters into her own hands.

I thought wisdom tooth pain would be a useful framework to explore all of the above. I’ve always been confused by the purpose of wisdom teeth, especially the timing of their arrival. In the film, the woman's wisdom tooth arrives to yank her out of hyper-comfort and cushty infantilization and into dignity and independence.'

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