I am going to watch for more Todd Solondz films. I don't know if WTTD has three acts and an arc, but it held me. I suppose for us late bloomers, male or female, those not physically beautiful or at least with acceptable personas, seventh grade can break your heart. If there is weakness in Solondz's film, it's the relentless humiliation and tension. Yes, there is a knowing laugh here and there, but the pain comes right back. Dawn is not yet a woman; however, she grasps at any straw that comes her way even if it means rape or violence with a local teen punk. She courageously loves her brother's friend, the unattainable teen rock and roller, but he wants no part of her youth and gawky looks.



These disappointments, her unloving mother and father, indifferent brother, and her babied younger sister are as much an impediment to her happiness as the taunting kids at school. She acts out. She's mean to younger kids, rejects her only friend, defies her mother, destroys her sister's dolls, call's her brother names, contemplates seriously murdering her sister with a hammer, and finally allows sis to be kidnapped by a nutty neighbor.



Is this all over the top? Not really! Seemed like this was the way middle school was, a nightmare of displacement where violence and perversion lurked nearby.