Rose Lorkowski is a single mother attempting to support her son Oscar and her unreliable sister Norah. She works a mundane job as a maid. Once the head cheerleader in school with plenty of prospects, Rose now has little to show for her life. She still sees the former head football player, but it is little more than a despondent affair. When Oscar is expelled from public school, Rose takes a job as a bio-hazard crime-scene cleaner to help pay for a...

Olive is a little girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so dysfunctional that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father, Richard, is unsuccessful as a motivational speaker. He is barely on speaking terms with Olive's mother. Her uncle Frank has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student....