A full 21 years after Todd Solondz introduced the world to one of his most empathetic characters in Welcome To The Dollhouse, the director is revisiting the life of Dawn Wiener in this summer’s Wiener-Dog. More than just a belated sequel, Wiener-Dog is an anthology, weaving together four separate stories (one of which features Dawn), each connected by the titular pooch. In his review, film critic A.A. Dowd said, “Wiener-Dog’s laughs are typically sour, but the filmmaker hasn’t landed this many of them since Storytelling.” He also singled out the film’s final segment as “a surreal meditation on better lives not lived,” featuring two superb performances (from Ellen Burstyn and Zosia Mamet) that make the film worth the price of admission alone.
Wiener-Dog comes to Chicago on July 15, but The A.V. Club and IFC Films have an opportunity for you to see it for free on Thursday, July 7. For your chance to win a pair of passes to the advance screening, simply enter your information here. Remember: Advance screenings are often intentionally overbooked, so be sure to arrive early if you want to guarantee yourself a seat. An official plot synopsis and trailer for the film can be found below.
Welcome to the doghouse: The latest hilariously biting comedy from Todd Solondz is a twisted Lassie for misanthropes. It follows the wayward adventures of a dachshund who passes from oddball owner to oddball owner—including the world’s worst mom, a beleaguered screenwriter, and the grownup incarnation of Welcome To The Dollhouse’s Dawn Wiener—whose radically dysfunctional lives are all impacted by the pooch.