Even Lambs Have Teeth (2015) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story takes place on a rural organic farm surrounded by quiet roads and dense woods. Key locations include a roadside restaurant, a bus stop, and Jed's family home, with a hidden wooded area featuring storage containers where captives are held. The climax involves a journey toward New York City.

• rural farm setting
• isolated farm
• storage containers location
• woods setting

The film is set in the present day, featuring modern technology like coded text messages and travelers moving through small towns. The central ordeal spans approximately a month-long farm stay, reflecting contemporary concerns about trafficking and community complicity.

• present day
• modern technology
• contemporary setting
• month-long timeframe

The film explores four primary themes: Survival, as Katie and Sloan endure and escape a calculated trap through resilience and quick thinking; Investigation, following the FBI and local authorities as they uncover the trafficking network; Justice, depicting the downfall of the criminals and accountability for those involved; and Rural Isolation, showing how quiet communities can harbor exploitation.

• survival theme
• justice theme
• investigation theme
• rural isolation theme
• trafficking themes

The rural environment creates a quiet cover for exploitation, acting as a pressure cooker where danger is amplified by distance from urban help. The farm and remote woods force the protagonists to improvise survival tactics without easy access to assistance, heightening the tension and isolation they experience.

• rural isolation
• farm danger
• remote woods
• community complicity
• exploitation in small towns

The two main protagonists are Katie, a recent college graduate who volunteers on the organic farm and becomes the de facto leader of the escape, and Sloan, Katie's loyal friend who starts hesitant but grows into a fearless ally. Both demonstrate remarkable resilience under extreme danger.

• Katie protagonist
• Sloan protagonist
• main characters
• female leads

Katie is characterized by her ability to remain calm under pressure, think strategically, and use resourcefulness to outmaneuver her captors. Her resolve grows throughout the story as she fights to protect Sloan and bring the perpetrators to justice, becoming the driving force behind their escape.

• Katie character
• leader
• resourcefulness
• strategic thinking
• resilience

Boris heads the trafficking ring and serves as the cold, calculating villain who controls the operation and watches victims closely. He uses manipulation and threats to keep subordinates in line, orchestrating the victims' ordeals. His downfall comes as the web of control unravels.

• Boris antagonist
• trafficking ring leader
• villain
• crime boss

Sheriff Andrews represents corrupt local law enforcement who becomes entangled in the dangerous web and participates in or tolerates acts of violence. His presence amplifies the sense of danger in the community and raises questions about accountability, as he is eventually confronted by the protagonists.

• Sheriff Andrews
• corrupt sheriff
• law enforcement corruption
• systemic corruption

Jed is a local boy who escorts the girls to the farm and participates in the trafficking operation under mixed loyalty, showing both coercion and exposure to the crime. His mother hosts the visitors, using hospitality to mask the exploitation, a trusted face luring victims, illustrating how familiar figures can be complicit in trafficking.

• Jed character
• Mother character
• complicity
• family involvement in crime
• trafficking network

The narrative follows the downfall of the trafficking network and the accountability of those involved, including corrupt town figures. The protagonists confront perpetrators directly, turning the odds against them as they close in on the criminals. The climax emphasizes the brutal cost of protecting the vulnerable and delivering justice.

• justice
• revenge
• trafficking downfall
• accountability
• vigilantism

The film has a dark tone dominated by themes of human trafficking and systemic corruption, with high intensity and fast pacing. While not entirely bleak due to the protagonists' successful brutal revenge, the ending is bittersweet, personal victory mixed with a bleak societal reality implying the cycle of violence continues.

• dark tone
• bittersweet ending
• intense movie
• thriller tone
• revenge theme