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…

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…

Welcome to the Dollhouse is about as dark and mean as it gets for a film about junior high. Todd Solondz evidently doesn't have a great deal of faith in humanity and I'm here for it.

This film is a rough chapter in the life of Dawn Weiner (like, damn, imagine going through junior high with that last name), who deals with everything from rapey bullies, an inattentive family, uncaring authority to everything in between. On top of all this Dawn's not the best person herself, but with everything she goes through how the fuck could she be?

This film has the cringe of a Lanthimos film, the cosmic misfortune of a Coens film and the brilliant pitch black humour…

Eu já tinha ouvido falar desse filme várias vezes, mas o que me fez finalmente ir atrás pra assistir foi a grande pensadora contemporânea Katya Zamolodchikova dizendo "se você não se idêntica com a Dawn Wiener (protagonista do filme) você é parte do problema", e como sempre não poderia deixar de concordar. O filme é um retrato extremamente fiel da vida de uma criança no começo da adolescência que simplesmente não se encaixa, e sofre horrores por conta disso. E sim, parece extremamente clichê falando assim, mas aqui o filme pega esse assunto de um jeito tão real e abre ele totalmente, expondo totalmente a parte psicológica dessa experiência torturante da escola pra quem não se encaixa, ao mesmo tempo…