Welcome to Marwen

Welcome to Marwen is a 2018 American drama film distributed by Universal Pictures.

Plot
A World War II war plane piloted by a doll-like figure is hit by enemy fire and forced to ditch. The pilot's shoes are burned in the forced landing and he finds women's shoes, which he wears instead. The pilot is confronted by doll-like German soldiers, who taunt him for wearing women's shoes. The Germans threaten to emasculate him, but are killed by a group of doll-like women who come to the pilot's rescue and protect him.

As told in flashback, set in 2000, it’s revealed that the doll-like figures are actually modified Barbie dolls photographed by Mark Hogancamp, who has created a model village named Marwen (later renamed Marwencol) to help him cope with his diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder and memory loss from an attack some time earlier by white supremacists[6] after he unwisely and drunkenly told them about his fetish for wearing women's shoes. Mark fantasizes that the dolls are alive and act out in scenes which he photographs. The dolls correspond to people that he knows in real life: himself as "Cap'n Hogie", the pilot; female friends as his protectors; and his attackers as German Nazi soldiers. A green-haired doll named Deja Thoris is the Belgian Witch who prevents Cap'n Hogie from becoming too close with any woman, sending the women far into the future. Deja Thoris herself represents the pills which Mark takes to relieve his pain, to which he has become addicted.

Mark has a court date to make a victim impact statement at the sentencing of the men who attacked him. After being initially reluctant to appear in court and confront his attackers, he comes to the hearing but flees when he imagines the defendants becoming German Nazi soldiers and shooting him. The judge reschedules the sentencing hearing for the same day that Mark's photographs will be shown at a public art gallery.

Mark falls in love with a woman named Nicol who moves into the house across the street, and buys a doll which he names Nicol to represent her. The doll Nicol is in love with Cap'n Hogie and they get married. In real life, Mark proposes marriage to Nicol, who tells him that she just wants to be his friend. Mark takes this rejection hard and contemplates suicide. Mark imagines Nicol being shot by a Nazi, who in turn is killed by Cap'n Hogie and brought back to life, along with other Nazi soldiers, by Deja Thoris. Cap'n Hogie realizes that Deja Thoris is a Nazi spy, and Mark realizes that the pills that he thought were helping him were actually hurting him. Mark pours the pills down the sink and vows to break his addiction to them.

Mark goes to the rescheduled sentencing hearing and delivers an inspiring victim impact statement. That evening, Mark attends the exhibition of his photographs and makes a date with his friend Roberta, who is a sales clerk at the hobby store where he is a frequent customer. The film ends with a photograph of the real Mark Hogancamp, who has a successful career as a photographer.

Extras

 * Deleted Scenes
 * Marwen's Citizens
 * A Visionary Director
 * Building Marwen
 * Living Dolls
 * Trailers
 * 1) Second Act
 * 2) The Upside
 * 3) On the Basis of Sex
 * 4) Backdraft 2
 * 5) Arctic