I sine syv år på Coolidge College har Van Wilder bygget opp et legendarisk rykte som skolens ukronede festkonge, og nå skal den pliktoppfyllende Gwen Pearson skrive en artikkel om han i skolebladet. Men det ville livet synes å lakke mot slutten da Van's far, Vance, lukker pengekassen. Syv år på college får være nok! Men så lett lar "Van the Man" seg ikke kue. Sammen med sine venner legger han skumle planer, så han kan fortsette sitt liv som evighetsstuderende festløve.

Trapped in her own doll-like existence, Faith dreams that one day she can be a real mother to her daughter Nell she abandoned seven years ago. But time has run out. Her sister Eris can no longer keep the child. Her boyfriend Mance won't play father to a rape child. The girl is to be adopted. Desperate to save her dream, Faith takes her daughter into her dollhouse fantasy world, where bad things never happen. But she can't keep reality out. Nell wants a real mother. Mance thinks she's going mad. Eris thinks it's all an act. As the dollhouse reveals itself as thin veil covering the terrors of her past, Faith has to face her pain or be condemned to a life of shame.