Vada Sultenfuss lives in a house built around death. Her father, Harry Sultenfuss, runs the town’s funeral parlor, which doubles as their home. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her, and her paternal grandmother, Gramoo, suffers from dementia. That setup defines My Girl, a 1991 comedy-drama directed by Howard Zieff and written by Laurice Elehwany, and it never lets go of it.
The film follows Vada through the summer of 1972, as she navigates her first crush, her fear of mortality, and her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett. Thomas is “allergic to everything,” the tagline promises, and he sticks with Vada even as other kids mock their friendship. The movie’s title refers to the classic 1964 song by The Temptations, which plays over the end credits.
Trailer, via Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Vada’s World
Anna Chlumsky plays Vada, and the role marked her first appearance in a major motion picture. She is eleven years old, grieving, and deeply anxious. Her father’s profession means she spends her days surrounded by grief, and she reacts by becoming hypochondriacal. She worries constantly, and her father, played by Dan Aykroyd, fails to understand her.
The house itself is a character. The funeral parlor is where Vada lives, eats, and sleeps, and it shapes how she sees the world. Death is not abstract here; it is the wallpaper, the furniture, the daily routine. That constant presence drives the film’s central tension, and Chlumsky carries it with a performance that is both fragile and funny.
Thomas J. Sennett
Macaulay Culkin plays Thomas J., an unpopular boy her age who is allergic to “everything.” He is Vada’s closest friend, and the film makes their bond explicit from the start. Other girls tease them, thinking they are more than friends, but the film never confirms or denies that speculation. What matters is that Thomas stays with Vada, even when the world around them treats him poorly.
Thomas accompanies Vada to the doctor, who repeatedly tells her she is not sick. That scene captures the film’s tone perfectly: it is a comedy about death, but it never mocks Vada’s fears. It treats them seriously, even as it finds humor in her methods. Culkin plays Thomas with a quiet dignity, and his scenes with Chlumsky are the film’s emotional core.
Shelly DeVoto
Jamie Lee Curtis plays Shelly DeVoto, the new makeup artist at the funeral parlor. She provides Vada with guidance, and Vada develops a crush on her. When Harry hires Shelly, things take a turn for the worse. Vada’s attitude toward Shelly changes, and she becomes jealous and suspicious.
One night, Vada follows Harry and Shelly to a bingo game and brings Thomas along to disrupt it. The scene is a turning point, and it shows how far Vada will go to protect her family. Her actions are childish, but they are also understandable given the circumstances. Curtis plays Shelly with warmth, and her relationship with Vada is the film’s most complicated dynamic.
The Poetry Class
Vada has a crush on Mr. Bixler, her fifth-grade teacher. She learns he is teaching an adult poetry writing class and wonders how to pay for it. She takes money from a cookie jar in Shelly’s camper to fund the enrollment. In her first class, when asked to write about what is in her soul, Vada fears that she killed her mother, who died two days after childbirth.
That moment is the film’s emotional peak. Vada’s guilt is not rational, but it is genuine, and the scene lands because the film has spent its runtime building the weight of her past. The poetry class is a way for her to process her feelings, and the film treats her writing seriously, even though the content is dark.
The Carnival
Harry invites Vada and Shelly to a carnival, and Vada becomes distressed when she sees them together. The film does not explain why she reacts this way, but the implication is clear: Vada is uncomfortable with her father’s new relationship. She has spent her life watching her father grieve, and now she sees him moving on, and she cannot accept it.
The carnival sequence is the film’s weakest stretch. The plot stalls for a while, and the pacing slows. But the tension builds slowly, and the payoff comes when Vada and Thomas knock down a beehive in the woods. Vada loses her mood ring in the process, and while they look for it, the bees swarm and force them to run away. The chase is frantic, and it ends with a sting that leaves Vada in pain.
The Sequel
A sequel, My Girl 2, was released in 1994. The original film grossed $121 million on a budget of $17 million, which made it a modest success. A book adaptation based on the film was written by Patricia Hermes. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on November 27, 1991.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Film released | November 27, 1991 |
| Sequel released | 1994 |
| Gross earnings | $121 million |
| Budget | $17 million |
The Cast
The supporting cast includes Griffin Dunne as Mr. Jake Bixler, Ann Nelson as Gramoo Sultenfuss, Peter Michael Goetz as Dr. Welty, Jane Hallaren as Nurse Randall, Anthony R. Jones as Arthur, Tom Villard as Justin, and Lara Steinick as Ronda. Richard Masur plays Phil Sultenfuss, Harry’s older brother and Vada’s paternal uncle. Each actor contributes to the film’s portrait of a small town, but none of them are given enough to stand out individually.
Chlumsky and Culkin were cast in the lead roles of Thomas J. and Vada, respectively, in January 1991. Filming took place in Bartow and Sanford, Florida, beginning in February 1991. The production was efficient, and the finished product shows it.
Ranking the Elements
The film’s strengths and weaknesses are easy to rank:
- Chlumsky’s performance as Vada
- The film’s handling of grief and mortality
- Culkin’s portrayal of Thomas J.
- Curtis’s performance as Shelly
- The poetry class scenes
- The carnival sequences
- The beehive chase
- The sequel’s existence
The first four items form the heart of the film. The last four are less successful, but they are not failures. They simply do not elevate the story.
Final Word
My Girl is a film about loss, friendship, and growing up. It is also a film about a girl who is obsessed with death, and it handles that obsession with care. Chlumsky gives a performance that is both funny and sad, and she anchors the film from start to finish.
The film is not perfect. Its middle stretches drag, and some of its jokes land flat. But its emotional core is strong, and its central relationship between Vada and Thomas is handled with a tenderness that few films manage.
This is a film worth watching, even if it does not fully live up to its promise. It is a coming-of-age story told with restraint, and it respects its young protagonist enough to let her feel her own grief.
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