Bite Marks is an intimate exploration of fear, agency, and the social conditioning of young women. Drawing from the director’s own experiences and autofiction, the film examines the subtle, often invisible ways women are taught to silence instinct and self-protect in the name of politeness.

The film draws a purposeful parallel between its protagonist, Lexy, and Dan’s dog, Daisy, using their bond as a metaphor for conditioned obedience, socialized restraint, and the repression of natural impulses. Lexy’s accidental release of Daisy stirs guilt and shame, mirroring the misplaced responsibility many young women carry for circumstances beyond their control. Throughout the film, Lexy moves through physical and social spaces while negotiating visibility, vulnerability, and agency. Through surreal, animalistic vignettes the film explores the tension between instinct and conditioning. These moments reveal the inner strength and survival mechanisms women are often taught to contain contrasted with the learned behaviors of smiling, laughing, and avoiding confrontation.

Bite Marks foregrounds a feminist phenomenological approach to filmmaking, grounding the story in Lexy’s lived experience and embodiment. Tight, claustrophobic framing reflects bodily tension and constraint, while open, wide shots capture fleeting moments of freedom and release. Through the use of cinematic space, composition, and perspective, the film invites the audience to inhabit Lexy’s experience intimately, centering her perceptual and physical reality. Every shot, gesture, and spatial decision functions to make her experience of inhabiting a body, with all of its restrictions and freedoms, central to the storytelling.

At its core, Bite Marks confronts the ways some men exploit the “fine line” of appropriate behavior, hovering near boundaries without overtly crossing them, and illuminates the quiet calculations women make to endure, resist, and reclaim power. The film aims to be both deeply personal and broadly resonant, offering a visceral meditation on power and bodily autonomy.