Best movies like Little Miss Sunshine

Similar in 81%

King of California (2007)

Plot Summary:

Charlie gets released from an insane asylum and moves in with Miranda, the young daughter he left behind. Charlie believes that there is treasure hidden beneath the local Costco, so he puts together a plan to unearth the loot. By convincing Miranda to quit her job at McDonald's and instead work at the wholesale store, he is able to obtain a key. Although Miranda is skeptical, she helps her father with his irrational quest.

Similar in 78%

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

Plot Summary:

A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.

Similar in 87%

Dumplin' (2018)

Plot Summary:

A girl with the nickname "Dumplin'" enters a beauty pageant in order to win over the boy she likes and stick it to the other girls at school.

Similar in 77%

To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Plot Summary:

Three New York drag queens on their way to Hollywood for a beauty pageant get stranded in a small Midwestern town for the entire weekend when their car breaks down. While waiting for parts for their Cadillac convertible, the flamboyant trio shows the local homophobic rednecks that appearing different doesn't mean they don't have humanity in common.

Similar in 79%

20th Century Women (2016)

Plot Summary:

In 1979 Santa Barbara, California, Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women – Abbie, a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home and Julie, a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour – to help with Jamie's upbringing.

Similar in 77%

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Plot Summary:

Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.

Similar in 78%

Hesher (2010)

Plot Summary:

A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.

Similar in 78%

August: Osage County (2013)

Plot Summary:

A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Similar in 90%

Captain Fantastic (2016)

Plot Summary:

A father living in the forests of the Pacific Northwest with his six young kids tries to assimilate back into society.

Similar in 83%

Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Plot Summary:

Muriel’s Wedding is P.J. Hogan’s film debut. A humorous emancipation story of an unemployed woman who evolves from a dreamer into a self sustaining successful woman. An amusing comedy that’s funny, silly, angry and serious.

Similar in 87%

Running with Scissors (2006)

Plot Summary:

Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.

Similar in 85%

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Plot Summary:

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980's.

Similar in 77%

The Savages (2007)

Plot Summary:

A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.

Similar in 78%

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Plot Summary:

Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip, with his Russian rocker friend, to find her. Their journey takes them through an absurd purgatory where they discover that being dead doesn't mean you have to stop livin'!.

Similar in 88%

The Descendants (2011)

Plot Summary:

With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron, Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.

Similar in 80%

Dan in Real Life (2007)

Plot Summary:

Advice columnist, Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious daughters. Things get even more complicated when Dan finds out that the woman he falls in love with is actually his brother's new girlfriend.

Similar in 89%

Nebraska (2013)

Plot Summary:

An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.

Similar in 86%

Ghost World (2001)

Plot Summary:

Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls' friendship.

Similar in 87%

Lady Bird (2017)

Plot Summary:

A California high school student plans to escape from her family and small town by going to college in New York.

Similar in 90%

Lost in Translation (2003)

Plot Summary:

Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

Similar in 88%

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

Plot Summary:

Having suffered a tragedy, Ben becomes a caregiver to earn money. His first client, Trevor, is a hilarious 18-year-old with muscular dystrophy. One paralyzed emotionally, one paralyzed physically, Ben and Trevor hit the road on a trip into the western states. The folks they collect along the way will help them test their skills for surviving outside their calculated existence. Together, they come to understand the importance of hope and the necessity of true friendship.

Similar in 83%

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Plot Summary:

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore – and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.

Similar in 84%

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Plot Summary:

New York City. Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer, finds his life turned upside down when neighboring gay artist Simon is hospitalized and his dog is entrusted to Melvin. In addition, Carol, the only waitress who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast.

Similar in 81%

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Plot Summary:

Three American brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other -- to become brothers again like they used to be. Their "spiritual quest", however, veers rapidly off-course (due to events involving over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray).

Similar in 76%

The Way Way Back (2013)

Plot Summary:

Over the course of his summer break, a teenager comes into his own thanks in part to the friendship he strikes up with one of the park's managers.

Similar in 86%

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Plot Summary:

The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

Similar in 85%

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)

Plot Summary:

A story of two love affairs. A father's love for his five sons. And one son's love for his father, a love so strong it compels him to live a lie. That son is Zac Beaulieu, born on the 25th of December 1960, different from all his brothers, but desperate to fit in. During the next 20 years, life takes Zac on a surprising and unexpected journey that ultimately leads him to accept his true nature and, even more importantly, leads his father to love him for who he really is.

Similar in 84%

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Plot Summary:

Cal Weaver is living the American dream. He has a good job, a beautiful house, great children and a beautiful wife, named Emily. Cal's seemingly perfect life unravels, however, when he learns that Emily has been unfaithful and wants a divorce. Over 40 and suddenly single, Cal is adrift in the fickle world of dating. Enter, Jacob Palmer, a self-styled player who takes Cal under his wing and teaches him how to be a hit with the ladies.

Similar in 77%

The Bucket List (2007)

Plot Summary:

Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers are worlds apart. At a crossroads in their lives, they share a hospital room and discover they have two things in common: a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do and an unrealized need to come to terms with who they are. Together they embark on the road trip of a lifetime, becoming friends along the way and learning to live life to the fullest, with insight and humor.

Similar in 84%

Juno (2007)

Plot Summary:

A young girl named Juno gets herself pregnant and tries to stand on her own, but soon learns a few lessons about being grown up.