Dawn Wiener is a 7th grader who goes to elementary school in New Jersey. Too often ridiculed and marginalized since she was a child, Dawn wants to switch things around now that her puberty just showed up. However, life can be really sinister, as it was when she was a child. Only her strange and cynical sense of humor will help her to keep going on with her life.

Welcome to the Dollhouse, Todd Solondz’s second film, meant his big break among film buff audiences. His bitter way to look at things and his ruthless sense of humor regarding puberty meant a slap in the face to the way Hollywood had been depicting that complex age range before. The title refers to the famous novel by Henrik Ibsen, a personal favorite of Solondz’s. Bridging the gap, both lead characters suffer from frustration generated by social conventionalisms. However, in Todd Solondz’s personal style, humor is not only politically incorrect, but also reckless.