Film Collection

My Girl (1991)

Vada Sultenfuss is an 11-year-old girl and a hypochondriac living in Madison, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1972. Her father, Harry, is a widowed funeral director who does not understand his daughter, so he constantly ignores her. Their house operates as the town funeral parlor, which has led Vada to develop an obsession with death. She regularly tends to her paternal grandmother, 'Gramoo', who has Alzheimer's disease and whose wandering mind likewise affects Vada. Phil, Vada's uncle, lives across town and frequently stops by to help the family.

Vada frequently hangs out with her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett, a stereotypical nerd. He's an unpopular boy her age who is allergic to "everything". Other girls (except for one girl named Judy) tease the two, thinking they're more than just friends. Thomas J. often accompanies Vada when she visits the doctor, who assures her that she is not sick and that she doesn't have a chicken bone stuck in her throat.

Vada's summer begins well. She befriends Shelly DeVoto, the new makeup artist at Harry's funeral parlor, who provides her with some much needed guidance. Vada also develops a crush on her fifth-grade school teacher, Mr. Bixler, and hears about an adult poetry writing class that he is teaching. Vada steals some money from the cookie jar in Shelly's trailer to cover the cost of the class. When advised to write about what is in her soul, Vada fears that she has killed her mother, who died two days after giving birth to her. Soon, things start to fall apart.

Harry and Shelly start dating, and this begins to affect Vada's attitude towards Shelly. One night, Vada follows the pair to a bingo game and brings Thomas J. along to disrupt it. On the Fourth of July, when Shelly's ex-husband Danny arrives, Vada hopes that he is there to take Shelly back, but to no avail. Vada becomes more distressed when Harry and Shelly announce their engagement at a carnival, leading her to contemplate running away with Thomas J.

Vada begins to start seeing changes within herself. She runs around screaming that she is hemorrhaging until Shelly politely explains to her that her first period is a completely natural process. As Vada realizes this only occurs with girls, she does not want to see Thomas J., who happens to come by shortly afterward. A couple of days later, though, Vada and Thomas J. are sitting under a tree by a river, where they share an innocent first kiss.

Vada and Thomas J. come across a beehive hanging from a tree, which he decides to knock down. Vada loses her mood ring in the process, so they start looking for it, but the search is cut short as the bees start swarming, making them run away. Thomas J. later returns by himself to find the ring. He steps on the beehive which is lying on the ground. Unfortunately, because he knocked the beehive down beforehand, the bees begin to swarm Thomas J. just as he finds the ring. Unable to escape, he dies from an allergic reaction.

Harry is left to deliver the tragic news to Vada, which devastates her so much that she will not even leave her bedroom. Shelly shows concern for Vada and suggests to Harry that he should help her feel better, but he brushes her off. As a result, Shelly tearfully tells him to open his eyes and stop hiding, reminding him that life isn't just death and to never ignore the living, especially his daughter.

When Vada attends Thomas J.'s funeral, her emotions become so strong that she runs away. She hurries over to Mr. Bixler's house to discover that he is getting married to someone else. Vada then runs to her and Thomas J.'s frequent hangout spot near the tree, to reflect on what has happened. When she returns home, everyone is relieved, including Shelly, whom Vada begins to accept as her future stepmother. Vada's grief also manages to mend the rift between her and her father, who explains to Vada that her mother's death was never her fault and things like that can happen without explanation.

The next day, Vada and her father see Mrs. Sennett, who still struggles with her son's death. She gives Vada the mood ring back which Thomas J. had found and Vada gives Mrs. Sennett some comfort. On the last day of writing class, Vada reads a poem she wrote summoning over the loss of her best friend. She then goes outside to ride bikes with her new best friend, Judy, as the credits roll.