Film Snail

Welcome to the Dollhouse
Welcome to the Dollhouse

7.1

Welcome to the Dollhouse

R·1996·88m

Summary

An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.

Crew

Director, Screenplay

Todd Solondz

Reviews

Geronimo1967

Geronimo1967

July 25, 2024

7

Well if you were ever in doubt about the fallacies of the "American dream" then you need look no further than the life of the young and rather unfortunately named "Dawn Wiener" (Heather Matarazzo). Her life with her geeky brother "Mark" (Matthew Faber) is comfortable enough, but her parents aren't really that interested in her and she is bullied at school by "Brandon" (Brendan Sexton). Her brother has a garage band and it's fronted by the dashing "Steve" (Eric Mabius) in whom she has an almighty crush. Of course she is too young to realise that were he to reciprocate in any way he'd be sent to jail! As so often happens with those who are picked on, she starts to pick on someone else - her little sister "Missy" (Daria Kalinina) and this earns her the annoyance of her family. Feeling adrift and rather abandoned, she begins to seek a bit of solace with her tormentor whilst never quite giving up on her older, would-be, beau - but what can come of any of this? Matarazzo does well here, offering us a gently honest interpretation of a child who is not unloved, just unnoticed. She presents us with a vulnerable character whom you would expect to spend her entire life overlooked, living in the same town for a life unhappily married to a local plumber. Sexton is also quite engaging as the outwardly aggressive and brutish character whom, as we get to know him, is actually not in a wildly dissimilar boat to "Dawn". It's got some soul to it and that, and a certain simplicity, makes for a plausible observation of a life destined to remain, at best, in the slow lane.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$800,000.00

Revenue:

$5,034,794.00

Keywords

sibling relationship
new jersey
parent child relationship
mockery
ugliness
dark comedy
bullying
coming of age
misfit
little girl
suburb
junior high school
school life