Review of Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) by Clayton W — 20 Jun 2010

Welcome to the Dollhouse is a bizarre movie that I imagine influenced the creation of Napoleon Dynamite. It has that same awkwardness as its protagonist looks for love in some really wrong places. There are plenty of hilarious scenes and lines, but this is certainly a dark comedy.

Some of the frank dialogue is shocking, but the film is very well-balanced. Even the characters who seem, at first, to be caricatures, go on to show underlying depth. It helps the movie retain ties to reality, even as things grow progressively weirder.

A really interesting watch.