Rich Wright You'd think, with all the humiliations that pile up on our mousy heroine over the course of this unbearably cruel film, the scene is set for a big revenge moment... A huge climax where she finally sticks it to all her enemies and proves her worth. You would be completely wrong. This is no 'triumph of the underdog' tale, just a survival story about the spirit of a kid who must endure almost consistent harassment everyday, whether she's at school or home... And we wonder, how does she avoid cracking up? Her family don't want anything to do with her, preferring to lavish their affections on her 'perfect' younger sister, while in class she's the target of bullies, and the teachers seem to consist of a bunch of patronising jerks.Even the few chinks of light that occasionally shine through the gloom of her existence are quickly snuffed out, so if you're looking for a movie to put you in a good mood you're better off watching Bambi's mother get shot on an endless loop. BUT... (and this is a massive BUT) it also happens to be one of the finest films I've seen in years. I had it on DVD but guess what... a massive scratch on the disc stopped it after half an hour. Even with that small taste, I knew it was something special. So I waited... And FINALLY the whole thing has been uploaded to Youtube... And may I just say, it fulfilled my initial reaction to it, and then some.A huge part of it's success lies squarely at the feet of Heather Matarazzo, who cuts a sympathetic (or perhaps just pathetic) figure as she shuffles through life, being abused and hated by all. It's a role which could easily have descended into caricature, but her breathtaking performance as a bright girl doomed by circumstance to eke out this rubbish existence makes her plight evermore tragic. The supporting parts hit the bullseye too, as everyone from her nerdy best (and only) friend to her tutu-wearing, sickly-sweet younger sibling infuse proceedings with a quality which is rarely seen.This is a great film... Not a happy one, but I guarantee a far more relatable flick than half the homogenised coming-of-age motion pictures out there. You know, the ones where everyone is beautiful, most of your fellow students are wealthy minorities and you burst into the chorus of a cheesy song every few minutes. Hmm, what could I possibly be talking about... 9/10

Jennsouthwest Ha ha ha. Her friends make her poop on the floor of the school bathroom. Her little sister gets kidnapped by a pedophile and is kept prisoner in sub-floor space. Isn't that funny? I didn't think so. I can enjoy very dark humor. I can laugh about things that others find offensive, so it takes something really cruel and raw to turn my stomach. This was not done in a satirical way. It looked dead serious, but they added little tidbits here and there to let you know it was supposed to be a comedy. I wasn't sure in the movie theater whether I was more disturbed by the movie, or by the fact that other viewers were laughing! If you aren't disturbed by pedophilia, excrement-related bullying and other such themes, and in fact, you find all of those topics very funny, this may be just the movie for you. The actors were very talented and certainly convincing in their roles. The director made it all seem very real. Enjoy!

timmy_501 Welcome to the Dollhouse is about a girl named Dawn who fails to find a place anywhere in society. She seems to be the victim of middle child syndrome as her parents are too worried about their other two children to bother much with her. Dawn's brother is already established as the brainy oldest child and her sister is the cute one, leaving her without an easy way to establish her own identity. At school she is is unable to fit in at least partially because her parents don't care enough about her to help her dress normally for her age. Because she isn't nurtured at home, she also fails to develop socially and her personality is too thin to make her sympathetic to the other students. Predictably, she is treated as poorly at school as she is at home.Welcome to the Dollhouse is full of these devastating scenes in which Dawn get her hopes up only to have them knocked down again. Her parents and classmates are oblivious to her suffering; no matter how bad things are for her nobody ever seems to think about her feelings. Things also tend to go against her as a matter of course. She is frequently unlucky as when she attempts to get revenge on her tormentors and accidentally targets an unsuspecting adult.Welcome to the Dollhouse does a fairly good job of capturing an unfortunate girl at a particularly awkward time of life. It suffers from a lack of realism at times, however, since it's unlikely that every teacher and student would hate a person that is more bland than offensive. Even more detrimental than the film's lack of realism in establishing Dawn's situation is the film's lack of style. The visuals are unremarkable and the only memorable aesthetic choice is the tacky design in Dawn's home. The plot takes a detour into absurdity when Dawn's sister is kidnapped but surprisingly this isn't really played for laughs in spite of some humorous elements.I was surprised to learn that this wasn't director Todd Solondz's first feature as it felt like the work of a film-maker looking to gain enough confidence to do the things he really wanted to. Welcome to the Dollhouse does an adequate job of establishing a single character but it feels like it's missing some crucial elements that could have made it truly memorable.

CitizenCaine Heather Matarazzo stars as Dawn Weiner in Todd Solondz'ode to junior high school, otherwise known as middle school. She's a student at Benjamin Franklin Junior High School where she is mercilessly harassed by other students, male and female alike. She is also scapegoated by clueless parents and self-absorbed siblings. She longs for excitement in the fantasy arms of a high school guy, far too old for someone of her ilk. Dawn agrees to be raped by another guy at her school, and somehow there's still hope? This too is a misdirected abusive situation, which naive kids like Dawn do not understand. Seriocomic results are harvested throughout the film from similar situations. The only thing is, the film seems like a one note tapestry illustrating the slings and arrows of junior high and nothing more. The relentlessness of Dawn's mistreatment is clear; at the end, Dawn runs off to New York to find her kidnapped sister. She discovers her sister is found via a phone call, but then her mother is too busy with the media to talk to her at that moment. As it is, it's a bitterly funny look at the tween years of a put upon girl struggling to find direction for herself when the adults in her life fail to provide any. If you're looking for a redeeming moment in the film, then this might be it: Her realization that adults would never provide any meaningful direction in her life. *** of 4 stars.