‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’ Gets Revisited, Starring Greta Gerwig

We're all familiar with the aching pain of middle school. But thankfully, even if we were dreadfully awkward preteens, we've made the transition to adulthood with some measure of grace (or would like to think we have, anyway). But sometimes we can't help but wonder what our favorite young characters would be like as grownups themeselves, especially if their foray into teendom was smattered with uncomfortable experiences and social blunders that perpetuate secondhand embarassment. Lucky for us, we'll be able to see just how one iconic preteen blossomed into her later years, as Greta Gerwig is set to play Dawn Weiner in a psuedo-sequel of the 1995 cult hit movie Welcome to the Dollhouse.

While the original film focuses entirely on the struggles of the socially awkward eleven-and-a-half-year-old to survive the seventh grade—along with the bullies, crushes, and family feuds that come along with it—the new film, currently in development by filmwriter Todd Solondz, will be an ensemble project focusing on several different characters, one of whom is the now grown-up Dawn. Titled Weiner-Dog (a nickname given to Dawn by her ruthless classmates), the plot focuses on how one dauchsaund impacts and connects the lives of multiple people, according to the Hollywood Reporter. We're not quite sure how the dog will bring everyone together, but we do know that Gerwig will make an incredible addition to the movie.

Although Gerwig only gained mass recognition after being nominated for a Golden Globe in Frances Ha, our eye has been set on the indie darling for some time now. Both starring in and writing her own flicks, Gerwig has become a key feminist figure in film, as she continues to develop and portray complex, interesting, and three-dimensional female characters. Whether she is a tap dancing student at a former women's college who runs the school's Suicide Prevention Center in Damsels in Distress or an exhausted wife who runs away to a Delaware beach town after her husband's affair in The Dish & The Spoon, Gerwig always plays women who aren't confined to any clichés or stereotypes. That's why we're so pumped to see her revive the multifaceted Dawn Weiner in Solondz's upcoming film.

We may not know much about what exactly Weiner-Dog will focus on or how big a role Gerwig will have in it, but we're thrilled to see where one of our favorite fictional middle schoolers has ended up, especially if she's played by one of the raddest indie gals in the business. Has Dawn moved past her childhood cursh on Steve Rodgers? Has she developed a better relationship with her family? Middle school can haunt you forever if you let it—and we can't wait to see just how it affected this unfortunate tween.

Watch the trailer for the original Welcome to the Dollhouse below.