Part of Midnight Movies
Todd Solondz’s breakout cult classic is a stark suburban comedy about 11-year-old Dawn Wiener, a middle child in middle school in the middle of New Jersey. Sometimes hated, often reviled, seldom understood, Dawn tries in vain to put on a happy and friendly face as she struggles through the onset of what looks to be a long puberty. Life is generally grim, she sees, and sometimes it only gets grimmer. Nevertheless, she does find moments of grace amidst the pain and humiliation of her first series of frustrated love affairs, and soon begins to wonder if life might not be better outside New Jersey…
"At 11 I was at the peak of my creative powers: I was writing stories and playlets, putting together poetry projects. I was absorbed by my 'work.' At 12 I was no longer reading or writing, just counting off days and checking them off. I was interested in survival."––Todd Solondz “With a fine vengeance along with flashes of great, unexpected tenderness, Mr. Solondz lethally evokes every petty humiliation that his seventh-grade heroine can't wait to forget.” —Janet Maslin, New York Times
