Happiness is the kind of movie that polarises people. Most of the film's notoriety focused on the psychiatrist, Bill, whose young son quizzes him about molesting a friend, but all of the characters are damaged in some way or another. It's funny in places but the subject matter is not.

The plot weaves its strands around three sisters and their parents. One of the sisters is breaking up with an overweight man, another is married to Bill the psychiatrist, and the third 'encounters' one of Bill's patients and enjoys the heavy breathing. At the same time, their parents are breaking up after 40 years, because their father just wants to be alone.

Todd Solondz's (who wrote and directed Happiness) previous film, Welcome to the Dollhouse, also shared many of the concerns about characters who are outside the mainstream. These characters are often desperately seeking to be wanted and loved but whose lack of emotional maturity dooms them. Happiness though suggests that these people live everywhere amongst us.