Welcome to Me

***Welcome to Me*** is a 2014 American black comedy-drama film.

## Synopsis

When Alice Klieg wins the Mega-Millions lottery, she immediately quits her psychiatric meds and buys her own talk show.

## Plot

Alice Klieg, a mentally ill single woman living on disability benefits, and fan of Oprah Winfrey, wins the *California Stack Sweepstakes*lottery jackpot of $86 million. She appears on the local TV news celebrating her win, but is upset when the speech she had prepared is abruptly cut off after she mentions using masturbation as a sedative. She discontinues her medication, against the advice of her psychiatrist, Daryl Moffat, and moves into a casino hotel with her best friend Gina Selway.

During a vitamin supplement infomercial presented by Gabe Ruskin, Alice, who is in the studio audience, responds to his request for a volunteer, hijacks the broadcast and recites her speech once again (though is again cut off by the director). Gabe's brother Rich (James Marsden), the co-owner and manager of the studio, introduces himself and arranges a meeting to discuss Alice's idea for a tv show, at which Alice writes a cheque for $15 million to pay for 100 live-broadcast two-hour episodes of a 'vanity' show about herself entitled *Welcome to Me*. Gabe is nonplussed over the show's aimless premise, but after Alice takes him on a date, they promptly have sex and begin a relationship. Alice announces that she has given up her medication during the show's first episode, which includes a silent five-minute segment of Alice eating meatloaf cake with mashed sweet potato icing, followed by a live re-enactment of a scene from her past, with actors wearing name-cards playing herself and a friend who had betrayed her in high school. After seeing a recording, Alice decides the show looks too inexpensive and writes another cheque to bring the production values more in line with *The Oprah Winfrey Show*. The studio set is revamped to include a rotating stage and a replica of her house.

As the show grows in popularity, her friends and family become alienated by her non-flattering depictions of them in her sketches. Rainer Ybarra, a graduate student and fan of the show, interviews Alice about her rising stardom, and the two go on a date which ends with her fellating him in her limousine. Their tryst is revealed on air, much to Gabe's fury. While recovering from second degree burns sustained in a cooking accident on the show, Alice decides to introduce a new theme of neutering dogs on the show, utilising her six years' experience as a veterinary nurse. Fed up with her volatility, Gabe finally quits. Rich continues to support Alice's decisions until he and the studio are threatened with various lawsuits including slander and health code violations. Rich angrily interrupts the show, demanding that Alice cancel the veterinary procedures. Alice abandons the broadcast 40 minutes early, cancels her show and settles the lawsuits, leaving her with $7 million.

Alice suffers a nervous breakdown, walking naked through the main floor of the casino. She is hospitalized and resumes her medication. After being released, she apologizes to Dr. Moffat and contacts Rich to arrange a final episode of *Welcome to Me*. She invites her family and Gina to the broadcast, a lavish telethon aimed at finding owners for the dogs she has neutered, along with making amends to everyone she's wronged. In the show's last moments, Alice gives a heartfelt apology to Gina and praises her for her patience, and presents her with a check for the remaining $7 million of her lottery winnings.

Her life now back to normal, Gabe takes Alice home and gives her a camcorder as a gift. When she goes to bed, she finally turns off her television that she has left switched on continuously for over 11 years.