With graduation season now upon us, my peers may find themselves on a lot of different paths, and it can be hard to slow down and stay grounded when so many exciting and yes, stressful things are happening at once for all of us.

   Considering this tumultuous time in our lives, I decided to recommend a movie that pulls at heartstrings and empathizes with fears of being alone and falling short of dreams — fears that so many students experience during college decision season. 

   “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006) follows the dysfunctional Hoover family on a road trip to California for their young daughter to participate in a beauty pageant. While this premise may seem uninteresting to the average busy teenager, it ends up becoming so much more than initially meets the eye over its runtime. 

   Dwayne (Paul Dano) and Olive (Abigail Breslin) are the children of the family and the characters that I found the most relatability in personally. 

   Dwayne Hoover is an antisocial teenager who has taken a vow of silence and dreams of joining the Air Force. Along the journey, Dwayne has a revelation that challenges the achievability of this dream, and he spirals out as a result. 

   Olive Hoover is young and optimistic about winning beauty pageants. If you’re familiar with beauty pageant culture, you know how creepy and exploitative these events can be. Olive dreams of feeling as beautiful as the models on her television, not knowing that it’s not at all what it’s cracked up to be.

   In their own ways, Dwayne and Olive have both been sold an easygoing idea of the American dream and they both discover that the road may be longer and more tedious than they previously assumed. 

   Luckily, Dwayne and Olive are surrounded by family who support them, despite their own troubles. 

   My favorite of them is Frank, played by my personal GOAT, Steve Carell. Frank is their uncle and has recently been discharged into his sister’s care from a psychiatric ward after attempting to end his life. Frank is one of my favorites because he feels real. We come to care about him and want to see him come back from this dark spot in his life. 

   Edwin Hoover (Alan Arkin) is their grandfather and Olive’s biggest cheerleader. He loves her dearly and knows she will succeed in anything she puts her mind to. He has his issues like the rest of the family, but at the end of the day, you remember the love. 

   The parents are honestly the least interesting of the group, but Sheryl Hoover is played by Toni Collette, so obviously she still knocks it out of the park. Richard (Greg Kinnear) is easy to hate from the beginning, but I’d like to think he redeems himself by the end. 

   Together, this chaotic family unit warms the audience’s hearts from the very first scene and will stick with them for a long time. 

   I could go into the plot details more, but honestly the most important aspect of this movie is the cast. They are the beating heart of this experience, and without these specific castings I don’t think this script would have worked so well. 

    “Little Miss Sunshine” has been my all-time favorite movie ever since the first time I watched it two years ago, and that’s not for nothing. It’s so tender and emotional but also hilarious and silly. It’s hopelessly optimistic while also bluntly realistic and dry. It’s absolutely perfect, and I think everyone should watch it at least once if not twice or three times, especially at this crucial turning point in our lives. 

   Because as we are just days away from our release out into the world beyond Deep Run, we could all use this little piece of advice from Dwayne Hoover: “You do what you love, and f— the rest.”