Todd Solondz’s Sundance winning black comedy breakthrough is painfully true-to-life adolescent annihilation, a cringe-worthy reminder that school is hell and that kids are the worst. Bitingly funny, sharply detailed and endlessly awkward, Welcome to the Dollhouse follows 11-year-old Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo in a performance for the ages), a junior high geek who just wants to be popular. Teased by her classmates and tormented by the local bully, Dawn uncomfortably navigates lunch room terrors and family traumas while falling for the hunky star of the neighborhood garage band. And hers is the kind of role you rarely see on screen; brutally relatable and completely unforgiving. It’s no wonder the Wienerdog remains an outcast hero and style icon for our generation of misfits. Dollhouse feels like one of the defining indie moments of the ‘90s, perfectly capturing pre-teen agony while still being intensely entertaining and eminently quotable. You won’t be able to look away.
