Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

Action Comedy Drama Horror Thriller Sci-Fi Romance Mystery Animation Crime
The Dentist (2020) movie poster

Timeline

The Dentist (2020) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2020 · 7 mins · English
Starring
Noah Woods, Michael Brian Rawlins, Travis Jager

A struggling dentist in the Wild West finds himself unexpectedly confronted by a desperate gunslinger. Unable to afford proper medical care, the robber seeks help for an infected tooth. What begins as a simple request quickly becomes a more complicated situation, forcing the dentist to navigate a precarious and unpredictable encounter.

Western Drama Crime Action Cast, crew & box office
On this page (4)
  1. 1 Events in order (15)
  2. 2 Timeline questions answered
  3. 3 Movie threads
  4. 4 Every angle

15 events in order · contains spoilers

The Dentist Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of The Dentist (2020) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Wedding anniversary betrayal revealed

    On the day of his wedding anniversary, Dr. Alan Feinstone discovers Brooke is cheating with the poolman, Matt. He retrieves his pistol and pursues Matt in his car. The chase leads him to Paula Roberts' house, a friend of Brooke's, where Alan watches Paula invite Matt inside. He concocts a story about a surprise party for Brooke.

    When
    Evening
    Where
    Home and Paula Roberts' House

  2. Matt invited inside and dog attack

    Alan follows Matt to Paula Roberts' house and watches as Paula invites him inside. Paula's dog attacks Alan during the encounter, and he shoots the dog in self-defense. After the confrontation, Alan heads toward his own car and drives away, still determined to find Matt.

    When
    Night
    Where
    Paula Roberts' House

  3. First appointment and unsettling hallucination

    At his dental practice, Alan's first appointment goes awry when he hallucinates a child patient with rotten teeth and accidentally stabs him. The disturbing incident foreshadows his escalating violence and mental unraveling. He ends the appointment visibly shaken and isolated.

    When
    Morning
    Where
    Dental Practice

  4. April Reign visit; wife hallucination and outburst

    As Detective Gibbs investigates Paula's dog's death, Alan treats April Reign, a beauty queen. He hallucinates that April is his wife and, while she is unconscious, engages in inappropriate behavior and then assaults her. He hides her pantyhose, and Steve Landers warns of potential lawsuits before Alan ends the day early and sends staff home.

    When
    Late Morning
    Where
    Dental Practice

  5. Brooke arrives in opera-themed room

    That night, Brooke meets Alan in a newly created opera-themed room at his practice. He sedates her under the pretense of cleaning her teeth, then pulls out her teeth and cuts off her tongue. The brutal act marks a dramatic escalation in Alan's violence.

    When
    Night
    Where
    Dental Practice

  6. Morning questioning; Brooke is found alive; Matt is killed

    The next morning, Detectives Gibbs and Sunshine come to the Feinstone house to question Alan. After they leave, Matt discovers Brooke alive but sedated, and Alan stabs Matt to death in a fit of rage. The murder underscores Alan's complete transformation into a serial killer.

    When
    Morning
    Where
    Feinstone House

  7. Dental practice mayhem continues; Jessica threatens exposure

    Sarah and Paula wait at the practice while Alan treats Paula with an abusive drilling session, destroying her tooth. His assistant Jessica questions his behavior, and he fires Jessica after she helps Paula leave. Jessica then pulls out April's pantyhose and threatens to expose him, prompting Alan to kill Jessica.

    When
    Afternoon
    Where
    Dental Practice

  8. IRS extortion turns to torture

    At the dental office, IRS agent Marvin Goldblum tries to leverage Alan's tax problems for a payout and a free dental exam, but Alan tortures him instead. The agent's demand for a payout escalates the peril surrounding Alan and deepens the institutional pressure against him.

    When
    Afternoon
    Where
    Dental Office

  9. Police close in; Matt's body and Brooke found

    Detectives Sunshine and Gibbs drive to the Feinstone house to question Alan further. Near the pool they discover Matt's body, and they break into the house to find Brooke mutilated but alive, tied to the bed. The investigation tightens as the net closes around Alan.

    When
    Afternoon
    Where
    Feinstone House

  10. Karen is killed by Alan

    Karen, another assistant, finds Marvin still in the dental chair and warns Alan. Alan attacks Karen and kills her by injecting air into her jugular vein. The body count continues to rise as the detectives close in.

    When
    Evening
    Where
    Dental Clinic

  11. Sarah's escape and Marvin attack

    Alan removes Sarah's braces and imagines her teeth rotting. He grabs a gun, but Sarah escapes and hides in a dental room. She encounters Marvin, blood-soaked, who attacks Alan before the detectives arrive to rescue Sarah.

    When
    Night
    Where
    Dental Clinic

  12. Pursuit leads to the university

    Detectives arrive to rescue Sarah but are too late to capture Alan. They trail him to a university, signaling a climactic pursuit through an academic setting. The chase escalates as Alan's break from reality deepens.

    When
    Night
    Where
    University

  13. University confrontation and escape

    At the university, Alan maniacsically teaches dentistry and orders his students to pull their patients' teeth. He hallucinates and shoots a dental student he mistakes for Matt. The detectives burst in, but Alan uses a hostage to escape.

    When
    Night
    Where
    University

  14. Final confrontation in the auditorium

    Alan wanders into an auditorium where an opera singer practices. The singer transforms into Brooke, who laughs at him as he reaches out. Defeated, he is arrested by the detectives in a bleak, theatrical finale.

    When
    Climax
    Where
    University Auditorium

  15. Epilogue: Brooke as the dentist in a hospital

    Alan is carted off to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. In a grim coda, his toothless wife Brooke appears as a dentist, working violently on his mouth, suggesting a disturbing reversal of power and control.

    When
    Epilogue
    Where
    Psychiatric Hospital

Last updated: October 01, 2025 at 13:06

Was this helpful?

Timeline questions answered

The Dentist Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of The Dentist (2020): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Dr. Alan Feinstone become violent?

Alan suffers from extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder and a fixation on cleanliness and perfection. When he discovers his wife Brooke is having an affair with poolman Matt on their wedding anniversary, the betrayal triggers a complete psychological breakdown. His need for control and perfection shatters, leading him to murder Matt, assault Brooke, and kill multiple dental assistants in a escalating rampage.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Alan experiencing disturbing hallucinations about rotting teeth, foreshadowing his complete mental unraveling.

  • Alan Feinstone
  • violence
  • psychological breakdown
  • betrayal
  • OCD
  • murder
Q2

Why does Alan attack April Reign at the dental office?

While treating beauty queen April Reign, Alan hallucinates that she is his wife Brooke. Under this delusion, he removes her clothing and fondles her while she is unconscious from nitrous oxide, then attempts to strangle her when she begins to wake. He snaps out of the vision only when she fully awakens.

Foreshadowing: This attack follows his first hallucination of a child patient with rotting teeth, showing his mental state deteriorating rapidly.

  • April Reign
  • hallucination
  • assault
  • Alan
  • Brooke
Q3

How does Alan kill Matt?

After detectives question Alan and leave his house, Matt discovers Brooke alive but sedated in the opera room. Alan, consumed by rage at finding Matt with his wife again, stabs him to death.

Foreshadowing: Alan originally followed Matt to Paula Roberts' house with a gun, showing his intent to harm the affair partner from the start.

  • Matt
  • murder
  • stabbing
  • Brooke
  • affair
Q4

Why does Alan kill his dental assistants?

Alan kills his assistants to prevent them from exposing his crimes. Jessica threatens to reveal his assault on April by producing April's pantyhose she had hidden, so Alan kills her. Later, when Karen discovers Marvin Goldblum still alive in the dental chair, Alan kills her by injecting air into her jugular vein to keep her silent.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Alan fires Jessica and tells her to go home, showing his escalating paranoia about anyone knowing his actions.

  • Jessica
  • Karen
  • murder
  • dental assistants
  • cover-up
Q5

What happens to Brooke at the end of the movie?

Alan sedates Brooke under the pretense of cleaning her teeth, then rips out all her teeth and cuts off her tongue. She survives but is left mutilated and tied to the bed. In the epilogue, she appears at the psychiatric hospital as a dentist who brutally works on Alan's teeth, reversing their original roles.

Foreshadowing: The opera-themed room Alan creates foreshadows the theatrical, violent reversal in the ending where Brooke becomes the dentist.

  • Brooke
  • teeth removal
  • tongue cut
  • epilogue
  • ending
Q6

Why does Alan attack the dental students at the university?

Alan escapes to the university where he teaches dentistry. In a complete break from reality, he orders his students to pull their patients' teeth and hallucinates that a dental student is Matt. He fires at the student, mistaking him for his wife's lover.

Foreshadowing: His earlier hallucinations of rotting teeth and his violent drilling of Paula's tooth show his obsession with teeth turning murderous.

  • university
  • dental students
  • hallucination
  • Matt
  • shooting
Q7

How does the police trace Alan?

Police link Alan to Paula Roberts' dead dog when ballistics match the bullet to his gun. Detectives then go to his house, discover Matt's body by the pool, and find Brooke mutilated but alive inside. The investigation closes in on his location through these evidence points.

Foreshadowing: Detective Gibbs was already investigating the dog's death before the more serious crimes came to light.

  • police
  • investigation
  • bullet
  • evidence
  • detective
Q8

What does the ending scene mean?

The ending shows Alan institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital, wheeling toward a dental appointment. The dentist working on him is revealed to be his toothless wife Brooke, who applies brutal, violent pressure to his mouth. This suggests a dark reversal of power, now Alan experiences the same helplessness and pain he inflicted on others, and the cycle of violence continues.

Foreshadowing: The opera singer in the auditorium transforming into Brooke and laughing at Alan foreshadows this reversal of control.

  • ending
  • epilogue
  • Brooke
  • cycle of violence
  • reversal
Q9

Why does Alan destroy Paula's tooth during her dental visit?

When Paula visits the clinic, she mentions Matt's effectiveness, triggering Alan's rage about the affair. He aggressively drills into her tooth until it is destroyed, channeling his jealousy and fury into the dental procedure.

Foreshadowing: Alan had already shot Paula's dog and followed Matt to her house, showing his anger extends to anyone connected to the affair.

  • Paula
  • tooth drilling
  • revenge
  • affair
  • jealousy
Q10

What triggers Alan's violent hallucinations?

Alan's hallucinations stem from his pre-existing extreme OCD combined with the devastating stress of discovering Brooke's affair. His mind, already fragile from his obsession with cleanliness and perfection, cannot process the betrayal. This psychological pressure causes him to see distorted images, like patients with rotting teeth or his wife in others, triggering violent outbursts.

Foreshadowing: The first hallucination occurs during his first appointment of the day, right after discovering the affair.

  • hallucinations
  • OCD
  • psychological breakdown
  • stress
  • mind

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Dentist, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Dentist tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about a descent into madness like The Dentist

Stories where a fragile mind shatters, unleashing graphic violence and terror. If you were fascinated by the psychological breakdown in The Dentist, explore more movies like it. This collection features similar stories of obsessive characters spiraling into violence, featuring high intensity, dark tones, and bleak endings that match the disturbing vibe of The Dentist.

  • disturbing
  • psychological
  • brutal
  • frenzied
  • vengeful
  • unsettling
  • Tone: dark, disturbing
  • Pacing: fast, chaotic
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These narratives follow a linear yet frantic path of a character's mental collapse. Triggered by a betrayal or discovery, the story escalates rapidly through a series of increasingly violent confrontations, leading to a conclusion where the damage is irreversible and the cycle of destruction is complete.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on a protagonist's psychotic breakdown, often stemming from betrayal or compulsion. They deliver a consistent experience of high tension, graphic violence, psychological dread, and a profoundly bleak emotional outcome, creating a cohesive vibe of unrelenting despair.

Demented movie poster

Demented

1980
Dark Sanity movie poster

Dark Sanity

1982
Angst movie poster

Angst

1983
Mad Detective movie poster

Mad Detective

2008
Star Time movie poster

Star Time

1992
The Stendhal Syndrome movie poster

The Stendhal Syndrome

1996
Fade to Black movie poster

Fade to Black

1980
Psychosis movie poster

Psychosis

2010

Claustrophobic crime thrillers with tense confrontations like The Dentist

High-stakes encounters in confined spaces that spiral out of control. For viewers who enjoyed the tense, confined confrontation in The Dentist, this list recommends similar crime thrillers. Discover movies with fast-paced, high-intensity stories where a single location becomes a pressure cooker for violence, mirroring the unsettling and paranoid mood of The Dentist.

  • claustrophobic
  • tense
  • unsettling
  • paranoid
  • brutal
  • desperate
  • Tone: dark, tense
  • Pacing: fast, escalating
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves a confined setting—like an office, a house, or a small town—where two opposing forces are thrust into a high-stakes negotiation or conflict. What begins as a professional or chance encounter quickly deteriorates due to desperation, mistrust, or hidden agendas, leading to a explosive and morally bleak resolution.

Why they belong together: These films are united by their use of a claustrophobic atmosphere to amplify tension. They share a fast pacing, a dark tone, and a straightforward plot that focuses on a single, escalating confrontation. The experience is defined by its high intensity, psychological pressure, and the visceral thrill of a situation spinning into chaos.

Captured movie poster

Captured

1998
Ten Hours movie poster

Ten Hours

2025
Cornered! movie poster

Cornered!

2009
Don't Breathe movie poster

Don't Breathe

2016
Gang Related movie poster

Gang Related

1997
Big House, U.S.A movie poster

Big House, U.S.A

1955
Trespass movie poster

Trespass

1992
Where Danger Lives movie poster

Where Danger Lives

1950

Every angle

The Dentist (2020) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The Dentist in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app