Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

Option 1Option 2

Avg Rating: 4.3 / 5. Voted: 100

No one cared thus far. Do you?

AKA:
Directed by: Todd Solondz
Starring: Heather Matarazzo (Dawn), Daria Kalinina (Missy), Matthew Faber (Mark), Brendan Sexton III (Brandon), Eric Mabius (Steve)
Country: United States
Language: English
Runtime: 01:31:31
Genres: Teensploitation, Misery, Siblings-Family, Old-Young

Plot – Spoilers:
Dawn is a 12 year-old, desperate for acceptance. At school she’s regularly picked on, everyone thinks she’s fugly, her mother dotes on her pretty little sister Missy and her brother and Dad barely acknowledge her existence. Though everyone (apart from a boy whom other kids call a faggot) are uniformly uninterested in her, it’s Missy whom Dawn considers direct competition and loathes from the gut.

Dawn is pathetic and obedient at school, while a rebel at home. On the one hand, she stubbornly fights the urge to give in to her mother’s demands in exchange for a piece of dessert, and on the other, she meekly accepts lead bully Brandon’s orders to come on time for a rape session. It’s this dichotomy in Dawn, coupled with her resentment towards Missy that makes Welcome to the Dollhouse a tragicomic masterpiece.

Favorite Scene:
Dawn awkwardly enjoying her crush Steve performing the title track.

guest
48 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
analchildmolester
analchildmolester
September 5, 2024 5:39 pm

would love to fuck dawn up the ass

lamb420
lamb420
February 17, 2024 7:54 am

relatable. can’t stop thinking of what dawn does next. I know what I did when I felt the same.

Kiki
Kiki
June 25, 2023 1:23 am

Who tf made this bs?

Squeaky Fromme
Squeaky Fromme
June 14, 2022 4:58 am

Fine, don’t change “desert” or “come ‘on’ time” 😉
You’re incumbent for your errata, even though the stolid tenebrous viewers can’t distinguish your perfunctory indiscretions anyway.
A piece of dessert.
Come one time.

Aokigahara
Aokigahara
June 14, 2022 2:22 am

Admin, does Dawn meekly accept Brandon’s orders to come “one” time or “on” time?

Aokigahara
Aokigahara
June 14, 2022 2:07 am

Admin, fix your fucking “dessert”.

Doll Face Dōrufeisu
Doll Face Dōrufeisu
June 14, 2022 12:23 am

@Admin: ‘A piece of dessert’ Gary’s bitching and honestly, I don’t blame him. There are enough lowbrow uncultured boors, lamentably they don’t know any better so best not pioneer their insolency.
Arigatō, torafu de buta 😉

Clementine Kruczynsk
Clementine Kruczynsk
June 13, 2022 11:17 pm

Aussie Muriel (Toni Collette)

Gary .M. Heidnik
Gary .M. Heidnik
June 13, 2022 11:02 pm

‘A piece of dessert’
I think you meant…

secretsanta
secretsanta
June 13, 2022 8:24 pm

my first viewing of this movie, never saw childhood so honestly on screen before

red
red
June 5, 2022 12:06 pm

one of my favorite movies!

Pitbullmama6
Pitbullmama6
May 25, 2022 9:39 pm

I love this movie. It’s not necessarily disturbing, but some of it is really funny. Has been a favorite of mine for decades.

Reddie
Reddie
November 24, 2021 7:31 am

If she finally snapped and went on a killing spree I wouldn’t be mad at it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ SOMETHING’S gotta give.

clean whore
clean whore
September 9, 2021 12:12 am

when i grew up i was treated like Dawn. everyone shit on me and in me. i grew up to be a drug addicted whore. i roam around, town to town type stuff. i make good money and i buy good drugs. the world still shits on me and in me. at least now i get paid for it.

tonyelmono
tonyelmono
August 13, 2021 8:18 am

Kind of an interesting change of pace. I appreciate EUM putting variety on this site. A little something for everyone.

Ricky
Ricky
August 4, 2021 10:24 pm

Dawn is brilliant and very relatebale. Such a wholesome movie at times but boy does it get dark too. Great pick, eum

clocky14
clocky14
May 27, 2021 7:37 pm

why is this movie so addicting to watch… i mean its depressing af but its one of my favourites…

erik
erik
April 28, 2021 4:31 am

Fun Fact: this film was originally slated to be called ‘Faggots & Retards’, but was ultimately scrapped due to lack of marketability!

Antinatalpist
Antinatalpist
September 4, 2020 9:23 pm

I prefer his later works.. (from Palindromes on)

Bad movies
Bad movies
September 4, 2020 4:25 pm

I have had a crush on the woman who played dawn since I was 12. I remember watching this on vhs and getting my first real boner haha

RedArmageddon
RedArmageddon
June 29, 2020 2:19 pm

This is great, but kinda of dull.
Our main protagonist, Dawn, is kinda of a pituful/lamentable dork (but I still have sympathy for her). Everyone else is wretched : her family is aloof/distant at best, detestable at worst (talking about her mom and Missy), her friend is ,,,, meh, not memorable and her relation w/ Brandon is weird.
Also, the pace is slow at time.
Thought, I really like the”I/We love you, Dawn” scene near the end.
It’s not a movie I’ll recommend, but if you like “Happiness” (1998), give it a shot !!
>:^]

Bull
Bull
March 16, 2020 8:56 pm

Shit movie. Waste my time