6 Best Beauty Pageant Movies

By Vlad Zakh · February 27, 2026

Beauty pageants’ mix of ambition, artifice, and unlikely underdogs have made for some of comedy’s most charming crowd-pleasers. In Little Miss Sunshine (2006): A dysfunctional family road-trips across the country so their daughter can compete in a children’s beauty pageant. Another standout is Smile (1975): The chaotic behind-the-scenes preparations for a small-town beauty pageant expose its participants’ quiet desperation.

Miss Bala (2019)

TMDB ★ 5.3

A beauty pageant contestant is coerced into working for a dangerous drug cartel after witnessing a shooting.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke · 1h 44m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Starz Apple TV channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Dumplin' (2018)

TMDB ★ 6.3

A plus-sized teenager enters her mother's beauty pageant in defiant protest of its narrow standards.

Directed by Anne Fletcher · 1h 50m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

IMDb ★ 7.8 RT 91% Metacritic 80

A dysfunctional family road-trips across the country so their daughter can compete in a children's beauty pageant.

Directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris · 1h 42m · Rated R

Won 2 Oscars73 wins & 112 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

TMDB ★ 6.7

Rival contestants and their scheming mothers turn a small-town beauty pageant into a fight to the death.

Directed by Michael Patrick Jann · 1h 38m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Miss Congeniality (2000)

TMDB ★ 6.4

A tough FBI agent goes undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to stop a bombing threat.

Directed by Donald Petrie · 1h 50m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Starz Apple TV channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Smile (1975)

TMDB ★ 6.9

The chaotic behind-the-scenes preparations for a small-town beauty pageant expose its participants' quiet desperation.

Directed by Michael Ritchie · 1h 53m · Rated PG

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix, built to fix a specific annoyance: most recommendation sites are just algorithm-driven noise. Our lists are researched and organized by who's in a film, where it's from, and the mood you're actually in tonight.

6 Best Beauty Pageant Movies

Miss Bala (2019)

Dumplin' (2018)

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Miss Congeniality (2000)

Smile (1975)

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