Healing and growth from the rays of “Little Miss Sunshine”

As humans, we all know that dreadful feeling of anguish. It’s suffocating and it lingers like a parasitic dark cloud that refuses to release us from its grasp. The question is, what do we do when that feeling inevitably catches us?

Little Miss Sunshine, a 2006 Comedy/Drama film directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, follows the personal struggles of a family of six as they travel cross-country to California. There, they enter the charming 7-year-old Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) into the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant.

 This loving yet equally strained family is an accurate representation of a modern American family’s imperfections. Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a winner at all costs, Sheryl (Toni Collette) is constantly scrambling to keep her family in order, Dwayne (Paul Dano) is cold and disinterested, Uncle Frank (Steve Carell) is on the brink of another suicide attempt, and Grandpa Ed (Alan Arkin) is a potty-mouthed stoner. And then there’s Olive, the sole representation of hope. She’s a blooming flower bud in a garden being infested by weeds. Nearly the whole family is fragmented and flawed, however, when facing the trials and tribulations that each of them are forced to confront, it is most often than not, tremendously agonizing. It is in these moments of heartbreak that the film is able to shine in communicating the value of our failures.

This presentation of human nature is perfectly displayed in Uncle Frank’s growth. Unlike everyone else, he starts off at rock bottom, after a failed suicide attempt. There’s a scene early in the film after returning home from the hospital, where he silently sits on his bed while melancholically staring into space, trapped in his head with his own restless thoughts. Although this scene has little to no dialogue, it speaks volumes for Frank’s current mental state. This scene may resonate with many in this day and age, as countless people struggle with similar issues surrounding depression and suicide. In spite of the arduous patch in Frank’s life, in the end, with the help of his unorthodox yet devoted mess of a family, he is able to blossom into the best, most fulfilled version of himself and finally live to please himself rather than others.

Little Miss Sunshine will always be a monumental film with so much to take away from. The cast (specifically Steve Carrell) does a phenomenal job at portraying their characters in a hilarious yet realistic and relatable way. The impeccable combination of humor and delicate topics such as mental illness makes this film one of the most memorable films to date.