This highly sophisticated black comedy takes the form of a pseudo-documentary as it follows a small-town beauty pageant from the auditions to the glitz and glamour of the finals. Kirsten Dunst plays a sweet girl from a trailer-trash background, who's pitted against spoilt little rich girl Denise Richards, and someone in town is knocking off their competition. Ellen Barkin and Kirstie Alley are both excellent as the girls' cat-fighting mothers, and overall this is a very refreshing and ironic take on suburban American life. Director Michael Patrick Jann has succeeded in making an accessible and intelligent independent film in the same vein as Fargo, and the result is so much more interesting than the usual Hollywood fare.

In a small Minnesota town, the annual beauty pageant is being covered by a TV crew. Former winner Gladys Leeman wants to make sure her daughter follows in her footsteps; explosions, falling lights, and trailer fires prove that. As the Leemans are the richest family in town, the police are pretty relaxed about it all. Despite everything, main rival (but sweet) Amber Atkins won't give up without a fight.