Lars and the Real Girl

"The search for true love begins outside the box."

2007 1h 47m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

81%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 2,183🍅81%Rotten Tomatoes●70Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 166,264

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Extremely shy Lars finds it impossible to make friends or socialize. His brother and sister-in-law worry about him, so when he announces that he has a girlfriend he met on the Internet, they are overjoyed. But Lars' new lady is a life-size plastic woman. On the advice of a doctor, his family and the rest of the community go along with his delusion.

“The search for true love begins outside the box.”

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Cast

Ryan Gosling
Lars Lindstrom
Emily Mortimer
Karin
Paul Schneider
Gus
R.D. Reid
Reverand Bock
Kelli Garner
Margo
Nancy Beatty
Mrs. Gruner
Doug Lennox
Mr. Hofstedter
Joe Bostick
Mr. Shaw

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Craig Gillespie
Writers: Nancy Oliver
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 94% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Craig Gillespie, shot by Adam Kimmel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Torn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tatiana S. Riegel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The search for true love begins outside the box.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Craig Gillespie directs. Adam Kimmel behind the camera. David Torn scores. Tatiana S. Riegel cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 94% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 19 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4Directed by Craig Gillespie, shot by Adam Kimmel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by David Torn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Tatiana S. Riegel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The search for true love begins outside the box.".
9IMDB entry: tt0805564 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "dying and death", "shyness", "wisconsin", "delusion".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Adam Kimmel
Original score: David Torn
Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel
Production design: Arvinder Greywal
Costume design: Kirston Mann
Makeup / hair: Burton J. LeBlanc
VFX supervisor: Chris Brown
Sound: Scott Sanders
Stunt coordinator: Branko Racki
Runtime: 107 min · 1h 47m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $11,293,663
Return: 94% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 70/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 166,264 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 7 wins & 36 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Craig Gillespie

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Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-07-31
★ 7/10
"Lars" (Ryan Gosling) is a shy and geeky lad who lives adjacent to his much more outgoing brother "Gus" (Paul Schneider) and his wife "Karin" (Emily Mortimer). He dresses like a gent twice his age, sports a slightly creepy looking moustache and has never had a girlfriend. Well imagine everyone's surprise when he arrives home with a woman. A woman for whom latex isn't just a turn on, it's actually her skin. Clearly the opportunities for a more physical relationship between himself and "Bianca" are somewhat limited - aside from being uncomfortably squeaky too, but he isn't looking for sex. He's looking for something deep and meaningful. Has he completely lost the plot? Well perhaps unsurprisingly the town - led by his loving but concerned sibling, think he has but as he continues to take his love desperately seriously, and the something occurs that really does deflate his ardours, the entire village begins to change attitudes and what initially appears to be a comedy of people laughing at him becomes something altogether more touching and revelatory of what love actually can mean. Gosling has always been prepared to try something new with his roles, and here he masters the nerdyness of his character engagingly throughout - even if at times it does make you cringe with embarrassment. There are also strong supporting contributions from Mortimer and Schneider as they help anchor the ridiculousness of the story with some sort of humanity and along the way there is plenty to smile at as "Lars" emerges from his cocoon and actually starts to associate with a real girl - "Margo" (Kelli Garner) who might just prove to be his soul-mate? In many ways this rather sums up the stresses and strains felt by many during the ritual processes of courtship that human beings put themselves through; of the societal pressures to conform and to satisfy it's norms that we feel we must always comply with. Nancy Oliver's writing allows us to enjoy the scenario as it unfolds whilst also coming to our own, possibly sympathetic, conclusions and I did enjoy this.

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