The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Comedy · Drama · 1996
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.
Movie details
Welcome to the Dollhouse
“Not all girls want to play with dolls.”
1996 Comedy · Drama 1h 28m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Welcome to the Dollhouse?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Benny & Joon
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Ghost World
Comedy · 2001
Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.
The Station Agent
Drama · 2003
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
Carnage
Comedy · 2011
Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.
Fatherhood
Drama · 2021
A widowed new dad copes with doubts, fears, heartache and dirty diapers as he sets out to raise his daughter on his own. Inspired by a true story.
Little Miss Sunshine
Comedy · 2006
A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
Pleasantville
Fantasy · 1998
Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
Comedy · 2023
Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who've always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. But things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage.
Mean Girls
Drama · 2004
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Young Adult
Comedy · 2011
A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Todd Solondz
Written by
Todd Solondz
Heather Matarazzo
Dawn Wiener
Brendan Sexton III
Brandon McCarthy
Eric Mabius
Steve Rodgers
Matthew Faber
Mark Wiener
D
Daria Kalinina
Missy Wiener
Angela Pietropinto
Mrs. Weiner
Bill Buell
Mr. Wiener
Court is in session
Put Welcome to the Dollhouse on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.