Olive is a little girl with a dream: winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so burdened with their own quirks, neuroses, and problems that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father Richard is a flop as a motivational speaker, and is barely on speaking terms with her mother. Olive's uncle Frank, a renowned Proust scholar, has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence, which allows him to escape somewhat from the family whose very presence torments him. And Olive's grandfather is a ne'er-do-well with a drug habit, but at least he enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in far off California.

The movie took five years to make, mostly due to financial reasons.

[from trailer]


Olive:
Grandpa, am I pretty?


Grandpa:
You are the most beautiful girl in the world.


Olive:
You're just saying that.


Grandpa:
No! I'm madly in love with you and it's not because of your brains or your personality.

Revealing mistakes: While driving down highway, at one point police car escort can be seen out the back window of the van.

Written by Sufjan Stevens
Performed by Sufjan Stevens
Courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records