Film

Sunshine Cleaning

Name: Sunshine Cleaning
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2009
Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn, Alan Arkin, Clifton Collins Jr.

Drama

A single mother and her drifting sister start a crime scene cleanup business to rebuild their lives. Sunshine Cleaning is tender and funny—equally comfortable with mess, ambition, and the small mortifications of trying harder. It's for people who like character-driven dramedies that don't ask for much but give back sincerity.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like wry, low-key family comedies where the humour comes from awkward silences and grief sitting right beside a laugh, and a loose, unhurried plot doesn't bother you.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting and big set pieces, because this is a slow, shaggy character piece whose drifting pace may feel aimless for stretches.

What it asks of you: Expect a modest, unforced ninety-one minutes that lets scenes breathe and keeps you sitting with uncomfortable feelings rather than carrying you along on momentum.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Little Miss Sunshine2006

Same warm-hearted ensemble scrappiness, fractured family on a mission, deadpan humour that lands because the characters matter. A film that proves the dysfunctional-family road trip never gets old.

But It's been beloved for nearly two decades, so the magic might feel worn if you've absorbed it through culture. Also considerably more zany than Sunshine Cleaning.

Working Girl1988

Two women navigating ambition, class, and the systems stacked against them—but with 80s glamour and real bite. Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver's dynamic rewards repeated watching.

But The fashion and office aesthetics date it heavily. If you're watching for something contemporary, the period will distract.

Bottle Rocket1996

Wes Anderson's debut about small-time dreamers with nowhere to go. Gentle, funny, oddly moving—two guys trying to matter. The same undercurrent of failure-that-isn't-quite-failure.

But Slower and much stranger than Sunshine Cleaning. If you want plot momentum, this will feel like it's moving in circles.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Sunshine Cleaning

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Station Agent2003

Both films find dignity in unexpected work and community in the most unglamorous places. Neither condescends to its characters—both see them clearly.

A man with dwarfism takes a job in a remote train station and befriends two unlikely neighbours. It's funny and sad and utterly unsentimental. Tom McCarthy writes character with extraordinary grace.

But The pacing is deliberate almost to the point of stillness. Nothing happens except people learning to be kind.

Please Give2010

Catherine Keener and Amanda Peet wrestling with guilt, money, and how to actually be good people. Another film about trying—harder this time, with more agony. Touchingly awkward.

But More deliberately uncomfortable than funny. The humour is cringe-edged and the mood stays melancholy.

You Can Count on Me2000

Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo as siblings carrying old wounds. Quiet, intelligent, achingly real about family obligation and love. Kenneth Lonergan writes people, not plots.

But Very internal, minimal plot. If you want external momentum, this is all interior weather.

Pieces of April2003

Katie Holmes in a film that cares about the small, true moments. A fractured family Thanksgiving, humour threaded through grief. Made for exactly 91 minutes of your attention.

But The handheld aesthetic and indie timing feel dated now. Some moments swerve precious.

The Savages2007

Siblings confronting aging parents and themselves. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as adults still figuring out how to live. Darkly funny, never cruel to anyone.

But Deliberately unglamorous and sometimes slow. The mood is heavy—this is not a comfort watch.

Bunheads2012

Amy Acker leads a show about small-town ambition, found family, and women supporting each other. Twenty-minute palate cleansers with surprising heart. Made by the creator of Gilmore Girls.

But Cancelled after one season. Also, if you don't love Aaron Sorkin's verbal style and pop-culture riffing, it'll exhaust you.

Never Again2001

Both are movies about second chances and unconventional paths to meaning, made by people who care more about truth than charm.

Jill Clayburgh and Bill Pullman, middle-aged New Yorkers falling in love. Small, smart, funny, no score—just two good actors and a script that trusts dialogue. A genuinely adult love story.

But Almost no one has heard of it. It's shot like a 70s indie and looks like it cost nothing, which is its greatest strength and its commercial death sentence.

Tender Mercies1983

Both films locate hope in domestic ordinariness—small houses, real work, people showing up. Neither mistakes change for redemption; both understand that living is the hardest thing.

Robert Duvall as a washed-up country singer rebuilding his life in rural Texas. Spare, deeply spiritual without preaching, about grace earned through small acts. Extraordinary stillness.

But Completely unhurried. If you need momentum or music or anything other than character-watching, this will feel empty rather than full.