"Welcome to the Dollhouse" is a feel-bad movie with little to make most viewers smile. It's depressing, awful and painful to watch. It's also incredibly insightful and incredibly well made.
Heather Matarazzo stars as Dawn, a miserable kid who just began middle school. She's not particularly pretty, nor talented nor self- assured. The other kids are incredibly nasty and take full advantage of her insecurities, her teacher could use euthanizing and her mother is a complete jerk...and as a result Dawn is depressed and lost. The film follows her during part of the school year and by the end, her life still seems to suck...just as much as when the film began.
So why do I give this miserable film an 8? Well, writer/director Todd Solondz really understands kids this age...and most Hollywood films completely get kids this age wrong! They usually make them too smart, too self-aware and too happy...which is great if you are a movie star but not reality. Here, however, Solondz explores what life can be like for kids who feel like outsiders...which is incredibly tough at that age. The only negative is that there really is no ending to this story...Dawn is still miserable, her mother still is a terrible parent and things look like it's just going to be more of the same. But wow...what an incredibly well made little film!
Heather Matarazzo stars as Dawn, a miserable kid who just began middle school. She's not particularly pretty, nor talented nor self- assured. The other kids are incredibly nasty and take full advantage of her insecurities, her teacher could use euthanizing and her mother is a complete jerk...and as a result Dawn is depressed and lost. The film follows her during part of the school year and by the end, her life still seems to suck...just as much as when the film began.
So why do I give this miserable film an 8? Well, writer/director Todd Solondz really understands kids this age...and most Hollywood films completely get kids this age wrong! They usually make them too smart, too self-aware and too happy...which is great if you are a movie star but not reality. Here, however, Solondz explores what life can be like for kids who feel like outsiders...which is incredibly tough at that age. The only negative is that there really is no ending to this story...Dawn is still miserable, her mother still is a terrible parent and things look like it's just going to be more of the same. But wow...what an incredibly well made little film!