Lars and the Real Girl is a 2007 Canadian-French romantic comedy-drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Nancy Oliver. The film follows the story of Lars Lindstrom (played by Ryan Gosling), a socially awkward and introverted young man who lives in a small town in Wisconsin. Lars has difficulty connecting with people due to his fear of death and social anxiety, which causes him to lead a secluded life. One day, Lars announces that he has met a woman named Bianca on the internet, and that she will be visiting him soon. To his surprise, Bianca turns out to be a lifesize sex doll that he ordered online. Despite this, Lars treats Bianca as if she were a real person, taking her out for meals and introducing her to his family and friends. Lars's brother Gus (played by Paul Schneider) and his wife Karin (played by Emily Mortimer) are initially shocked and confused by Lars's new "girlfriend," but they eventually decide to play along with his delusion in order to help him overcome his social anxiety. As the story progresses, Lars develops feelings for Margo (played by Kelli Garner), an attractive co-worker who is touched by his sincerity and kindness towards her. This creates an unexpected love triangle between Lars, Bianca, and Margo. The film explores themes of loneliness, isolation, grief, love, acceptance, empathy through its characters' interactions while addressing societal norms regarding relationships & mental health issues from various perspectives including those around technology use like virtual reality/online dating which challenges character belief systems about what makes us human - all presented through hilarious moments made possible courtesy Nancy Oliver's screenwriting prowess!

Lars and the Real Girl is currently unavailable to stream in UK on the streaming services we have in our catalogue

Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as Lars and the Real Girl include New York, I Love You, Crossroads, He's Just Not That Into You, First Daughter, The Proposal, (500) Days of Summer.