Movie Review Monday: Welcome to Me
Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!
This week's film is Welcome to Me, starring Kristen Wiig alongside a splendid ensemble cast.
The plot of this movie surrounds Kristen Wiig's character, Alice Klieg, who wins the lottery and then creates a daytime talk show centered around her and whatever she feels like doing or talking about. She is obsessed with Oprah Winfrey, and has been off her mental health medication so the results are odd, goofy, surreal, and absurd, but very entertaining to watch in a strange sort of way.
Seeing what Alice decides to do with her newfound show is awkwardly cringeworthy, but fascinating to watch. If someone (a little off-centered) with millions of dollars had their own talk show all about them for hours a day to do whatever they want, I feel like the product would be very similar to what we see in the film. It's funny to see the reactions of the television production team, who have no choice but to indulge the eccentric desires of Alice since she is paying them millions of dollars. Her family and friends also have reactions to her antics, but try to be supportive of her new endeavor. This is where the film gets a little deeper.
As Alice goes all in on this vanity project, she becomes egotistical and distanced from the people she cares about most. It's nice to see the film sort of ground itself like this, since it could have just been about the silliness of Alice's show and not much else, but the conflict arises in a natural way that allows the film to move forward to a conclusion.
This is an odd film, but a good one. Kristen Wiig is great in it (as she always is) and the supporting cast is wonderful as well. I definitely recommend checking it out.
You can catch Welcome to Me, streaming right now on Netflix!