Welcome to the Dollhouse

1995 Directed by Todd Solondz

Not all girls want to play with dolls.

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

Heather Matarazzo Angela Pietropinto Victoria Davis Christina Brucato Christina Vidal Siri Howard Brendan Sexton III Daria Kalinina Matthew Faber Ken Leung Josiah Trager Bill Buell Eric Mabius Stacey Moseley Will Lyman Richard Gould

Alternative Title

인형의 집으로 오세요

drama comedy

88 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Cass Wall ★★★★½ 2

Brandon, I don't mean to be a cunt.
Review by Sally Jane Black 7

There are two things this film (and other works in this vein, i.e. Solondz' filmography) do best are capturing the feel of awkwardness and insert the bleak side of the American dream into the everyday. It does it here with some very bright colors.
There is very little in this that isn't offensive. Rape, pedophilia, abuse, and more are turned into unpleasant punchlines, but unlike many edgy comedies, this film has the decency to make sure you know none of this is okay. It still crosses the line. It's aware it's crossing the line. It's emphasizing the line as it runs it over. It employs hyperbole. It employs an awkward directness that seems inhuman, unreal, but rings true.
What makes…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★★ 8

Recently, a friend of mine and I were talking about Todd Solondz and how divisive his work is for most people. He's not a fan, so I asked if he liked John Waters' films and he said yes, and continued that Waters loves his characters whereas Solondz seemingly hates his own. I can definitely see his point, but I don't necessarily agree. I'm not sure if a man who hated the characters in his films would flesh them out to the point where they seem as though they're people we know. There is something so accessible about them, watching Welcome to the Dollhouse for the first time in many years was like being reunited with perfectly preserved people from my…
Review by 👽 Zara 👽 ★★★½ 3

when she was sawing the barbie doll's head off it reminded me of that time i made a voodoo doll of one of my teachers in year 4 out of one of my barbie dolls and broke the dolls leg and then a week later, my teacher actually broke the same leg as the doll's leg sooooooooo
Review by Hari Nef 3

delightful tbh
Review by Justin Peterson ★★★½

A lot like 'Eighth Grade' but long before social media, and even more awkward at times ... but not as awkward as Todd Solondz's follow up film 'Happiness'.
A few Quick Hits of what you can expect from this strange little movie:
- Wow it would suck to have a name like Wiener, especially in the cruel world of Middle School
- Wow, not even the main character Dawn's parents like her
- "Yo, Weiner, you better get ready, 'cause at three o'clock today, I'm gonna RAPE you!"
- "I don't mean to be a cunt."
- "Do you know what "special people means? ... What? ... Special people equals retarded. Your club is for retards."
Welcome to the Dollhouse is the kind of dark comedy where you hold your breath hoping it will not go there, but are also strangely curious if it will at the same time.
Thanks for reading.
Happy movie watching ... Skål!
Review by evilbjork ★★★

Few movies correctly portray the sadness and loneliness of childhood, this one does and does it well.
Review by menyhara 1

“brandon, i don’t mean to be a cunt” sums up my whole childhood
Review by ethan

somehow the most delightful yet disturbing thing i’ve ever watched
Review by Steve G 🐝 ★★★★½ 9

You Have 90 Minutes To Comply 2: Brevity Rules
A shotgun blast to the face to anyone who still suggests that school days are the best days of your life, Welcome to the Dollhouse is also probably the best film I've watched in this project so far.
My continual complaining about school-set films that focus on bullying generally centres around the fact that the events in these films don't ring true in terms of the way they come about or are settled. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of filmmakers who have made films containing school bullying were never bullied themselves and actually were probably the bullies, considering the shallow, almost playful treatment this subject normally gets.
Todd…
Review by Silent J ★★★★★ 4

An honest and touching coming of age story that reminds us all how it felt to be a cunt in high school.
Like Todd Solondz's next film Happiness, this is pretty brutal and fucked up at times, but it's also a pretty honest and even kinda sincere story that's hilarious throughout. Does it make me a fucked up bastard for laughing my way through the whole fucked up film? Probably.
Oh yeah, and I gotta give a BIG thanks to Claire Ramirez for giving me a link to this film when I couldn't find one. Thanks Claire Bear!
Review by dylan gelula ★★★★★

I’ve always been like oh I need to see welcome to the dollhouse but I didn’t really know I needed to see welcome to the dollhouse

Recent reviews

Review by kenz_b

Bo Burnham actually didn't invent anything with Eighth Grade !
This film was hard to watch for me, as much or even more so than Kids perhaps. Which always means that you're in the hands of powerful filmmaking.
You feel for Dawn, you share her feelings, you wish you could do something about anything. gets you wondering why does it all have to be so cruel
Clever use of the electric guitar
Review by manoela ★★½

i’m physically unable to find r*pe threats addressed to (anyone much less) a 13 year old endearing
Review by James Costa ★★★½

Middle school absolutely blows.
Review by Churlie Rurlph ★★★

I was thoroughly interested in watching the films of Todd Solondz because I'd been told how his works focus on the kind of people that don't usually get focused on in films, instead relegated to punchlines for the handsome central characters. That is absolutely the case with Welcome to the Dollhouse and while I still thought it was interesting and featured some impressive embracing of the grotesque, it still didn't really seem interested in seeing many of its characters as anything other than jokes.
Even ostensible protagonist Dawn Weiner is subject to a lot more ire than empathy from the story as she's kicked around by almost everyone in her life. While the film does seem interested in this girl…
Review by arielle ★★★★½

what an awkward masterpiece.
Review by maggiemuma ★★★★★

i love movies like this. dark comedies really seem to be some of my favorites these days. what a GEM and truly a rollercoaster this was!! i loved it.
Review by vanessa u ★★★★

so fucked up but so perfect
Review by james weekes ★★★½

i’m not sure how i feel right now.
Review by imara 🍀 ★★★★½

[ 9/10 ]
Watching this, I can’t help but feel reminded of The 400 Blows (which I first saw a few days ago). While Welcome to the Dollhouse is humorous and has financially middle to upper-middle class subjects, both films do a perfect job showcasing how confusing and anger-inducing it is for kids who have no support system. These adults could only be more neglectful if they were written by Stephen King. Welcome to the Dollhouse also does a fantastic but subtle job of showcasing how cyclical bullying is. Very sad but very funny (despite ultra 90s usage of slurs).
Review by Kerr ★★★★

no, i think he just filmed her doing some pirouettes
Review by Donnie Edwards ★★★ 5

"You think you're hot shit, but you're just cold diarrhea."
Review by nadsatdevotchka ★★★★

What can I say I just really love this movie