The Dentist (2020) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The Dentist is set in Los Angeles, California. The story primarily takes place in Dr. Alan Feinstone's dental clinic, his home, and various public spaces throughout the city. The contrast between the glamorous urban environment of LA and the sterile, claustrophobic interiors of his clinic underscores his obsession with control.

• los angeles
• setting
• location
• clinic
• california

The Dentist is set in the 1990s, specifically in contemporary 1990s Los Angeles. The era's advances in dental technology and social mores help frame Alan Feinstone's extreme obsession with cleanliness and perfection, while the visual style supports the film's depiction of a polished exterior hiding a violent, destabilized psyche.

• 1990s
• time period
• era
• contemporary
• los angeles

Dr. Alan Feinstone is a successful Los Angeles dentist whose extreme OCD drives him toward increasingly violent acts. His meticulous routines and professional precision mask a rapidly unraveling psyche as his jealousy and paranoia take over both his dental practice and his personal life, blurring the line between clinical care and sadistic control.

• alan feinstone
• dentist
• protagonist
• character
• ocd

Brooke Feinstone is Alan's wife who initially serves as the catalyst for his rage, becoming a focal point of his obsessive controls. She survives the violence directed at her and the story takes a dramatic twist when she is revealed to be the dentist working on Alan in a psychiatric hospital, reversing their dynamic.

• brooke feinstone
• wife
• character
• relationship

Detective Gibbs, along with Detective Sunshine, represents law and order in the film as they investigate the murders and disappearances linked to Alan's violent rampage. They pursue leads and close in on the truth, ultimately confronting the psychologist's terrifying psychological break.

• detective gibbs
• detective sunshine
• police
• investigation
• law enforcement

The Mental Illness theme centers on Alan Feinstone's extreme OCD and how his compulsions distort reality and fuel escalating violence. The narrative uses his ritualized dental practices to mirror his uncontrollable impulses, with close-ups of instruments and sterile spaces emphasizing a mind spiraling out of control.

• mental illness
• ocd
• psychology
• obsession
• compulsion

Violence in The Dentist depicts Alan's transformation from restraint to brutal acts as the plot escalates from paranoid defensiveness to murder. The violence is integrated with his professional setting, making each act feel clinical and deliberate. Detective investigations peel back layers of deception and dread.

• violence
• murder
• brutality
• horror
• crime

The Dental Horror theme reframes dentistry as a site of power and fear, where teeth become symbols of vulnerability. The film ties pain, control, and body manipulation to a dentist's toolset, turning the horrifying flipside of a trusted profession into the driving force of suspense.

• dental horror
• dentistry
• teeth
• fear
• control
• instruments

Alan's OCD is central to The Dentist because his extreme need for cleanliness and perfection becomes the foundation for both his professional identity and his psychological breakdown. His meticulously controlled routines mask his inability to handle emotional betrayal, and his compulsions directly inform the clinical nature of his violent acts.

• ocd
• obsession
• control
• mental health
• breakdown

Los Angeles provides the polished, ritually-driven world of a high-profile dentist that contrasts with the violence beneath the surface. The diverse city and its glamorous urban life serve as a veneer that Alan maintains, while the claustrophobic interiors of his clinic reveal his true need for control and the darkness lurking within.

• los angeles
• urban
• city
• setting
• veneer
• contrast