Overview
A dysfunctional family embarks on a chaotic road trip to fulfill a young girl's dream of winning a beauty pageant.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- witty
- darkly comic
- tender
- lazy sunday
- road trip movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film’s strong ensemble cast and delightfully funny script, while recognizing its blend of sophistication, silliness, and emotional uplift.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Hoover family’s Volkswagen journey continually forces Richard, Sheryl, Frank, Dwayne, Edwin, and Olive into close conflict and cooperation.
Richard’s collapsing success philosophy, Frank’s crisis, Dwayne’s frustration, and Olive’s pageant goal converge around accepting imperfection.
Olive’s preparation for the beauty pageant ultimately confronts the family’s competing ideas about success, appearance, and self-expression.
The aging Volkswagen, roadside motels, family disarray, and beauty-pageant setting juxtapose ordinary hardship with commercialized perfection.
Films like Little Miss Sunshine, and why
The Royal Tenenbaums
shares a dysfunctional-family road movie structure, bittersweet humor, and affectionate examination of emotional misfits
The Way Way Back
combines an eccentric family ensemble, dark comedy, grief, and a warm but unsentimental emotional arc
The Darjeeling Limited
uses a cross-country journey and comic family conflict to explore failure, resilience, and unconventional belonging
Captain Fantastic
features a young protagonist, flawed adults, and sincere coming-of-age humor within an offbeat family drama
Movie Details
- Directors
- Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
- Release Date
- 2006-07-26
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (8099)
Cast
- Greg Kinnear
- Toni Collette
- Steve Carell
- Paul Dano
- Abigail Breslin
- Alan Arkin
- Bryan Cranston
- Beth Grant
- Wallace Langham
- Matt Winston
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Little Miss Sunshine about?
- A fractured New Mexico family barrels toward a child’s beauty-pageant dream, discovering that collective failure can become a form of love.
- What is Little Miss Sunshine like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Little Miss Sunshine as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Little Miss Sunshine violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Little Miss Sunshine.
- What did critics think of Little Miss Sunshine?
- Critics broadly praised the film’s strong ensemble cast and delightfully funny script, while recognizing its blend of sophistication, silliness, and emotional uplift.
- Which films are like Little Miss Sunshine?
- Films with a similar feel include The Royal Tenenbaums, The Way Way Back, The Darjeeling Limited, and Captain Fantastic.
- How long is Little Miss Sunshine?
- Little Miss Sunshine runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch Little Miss Sunshine?
- In United States, Little Miss Sunshine is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
