Welcome to the Dollhouse

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Welcome to the Dollhouse

R

1995

1h 27m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Middle-school student Dawn Weiner (Heather Matarazzo) faces degradation at school -- where she is teased constantly -- and at home. The middle child between nerdy older brother Mark (Matthew Faber) and perky younger sister Missy (Daria Kalinina), Dawn can't seem to find a place to belong. Although she has a crush on a cute boy (Eric Mabius) whom her brother knows, she can only catch the attention of bully Brandon (Brendan Sexton Jr.), who threatens her to show affection.

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Critics Consensus

An outstanding sophomore feature, Welcome to the Dollhouse sees writer-director Todd Solondz mining suburban teen angst for black, biting comedy.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

03/10/2023

4/5

... There are deep and uneasy truths about emergent sexuality and the Darwinian atavism of the playground.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

03/04/2023

Nobody comes out of this looking pretty, and dignity – a key word in the film – is always far removed from these characters’ Darwinian struggles to survive their day without being rejected, mistreated or much, much worse.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

02/27/2018

The beauty of Welcome to the Dollhouse is its pokerfaced objectivity, which neither condescends to its pubescent victim nor romantically inflates her plight.

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Michelle Kisner

The Movie Sleuth

03/13/2023

Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse is one of the genre's most provocative, impactful, and poignant entries.

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Taylor Baker

Drink in the Movies

10/03/2021

70/100

Episode 36: Love in the Time of Monsters / Barbarella / Welcome to the Dollhouse / Johnny Guitar

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

07/18/2018

3.5/4

...a vision of middle-school awkwardness so cringe-worthy you'll be tempted to look away.

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michael C.

@MichaelC2 Mar 18

Was really good. Loved it. Was very quirky.

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Jack F

@MovieFan111 Nov 28

Finally a film worth rating. It's well known to cinema nerds, so it's a hidden gem to everyone else. It's an interesting movie, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and that's good. You pair this movie with Ghost World for a double feature day.

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Scott R

@ScottR Nov 25

NYT 1000 list. It is a unique movie, but it didn’t quite resonate the same way it did for others. I mostly was not invested in the characters or the issues they faced. It did have some wit I appreciated. Saw on tubi.

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Leaburn O

@RT35452347 Jul 8

An on point comedy about teenage angst. A cross between Napoleon Dynamite and The Brady Bunch. It is very well acted and portrayed. Made me laugh a lot with the 90s reminders. Watched on Amazon Prime.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 05/15/2025

1 hour and 27 minutes of humor.

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Stella J

@RT10015859 07/01/2024

I did not think this movie was very good, if there is a deeper meaning then I guess I don't understand it. I feel that nothing tied together and this movie and it was random and confusing. I had seen clips of it on other social media platforms and thought it could be a good movie, but it wasn't. I would never recommend anyone to watch this movie and I feel that I wasted an hour and a half of my life for nothing.

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Todd Solondz

Director

Heather Matarazzo

Dawn Wiener

Daria Kalinina

Missy Wiener

Matthew Faber

Mark Wiener

Angela Pietropinto

Mrs. Wiener

Bill Buell

Mr. Wiener

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24%

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Synopsis

Middle-school student Dawn Weiner (Heather Matarazzo) faces degradation at school -- where she is teased constantly -- and at home. The middle child between nerdy older brother Mark (Matthew Faber) and perky younger sister Missy (Daria Kalinina), Dawn can't seem to find a place to belong. Although she has a crush on a cute boy (Eric Mabius) whom her brother knows, she can only catch the attention of bully Brandon (Brendan Sexton Jr.), who threatens her to show affection.

Director: Todd Solondz
Producer: Todd Solondz
Screenwriter: Todd Solondz
Production Co: Sony Pictures Classics, Columbia TriStar
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 15, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.8M
Runtime: 1h 27m
Sound Mix: Surround