Joy is a 2015 American semi-biographical dramafilm, written and directed by David O. Russell and starring Jennifer Lawrence as Joy (loosely based onJoy Mangano), a self-made millionaire who created her own business empire.
Mangano was a divorced mother with three children in the early 1990s when she invented the Miracle Mop and became an overnight success, after which she patented many other products, often selling on the Home Shopping Network and QVC. The film is a semi-fictional and inspirational portrayal of how Mangano overcame personal and professional obstacles to rise to the top. Joy received a wide theatrical release on December 25, 2015, and is distributed by 20th Century Fox.
In 1989, Joy Mangano is a divorced mother of three, working as a booking clerk for Eastern Airlines. She lives with her two young children, her mother, Terri, her grandmother, Mimi, and her ex-husband, Tony in Quogue, New York. Her parents are divorced, and her mother and father, Rudy, fight whenever her father shows up at her home. Joy's older half-sister, Peggy, is an overachiever who constantly humiliates Joy in front of her children. Peggy and Joy's father Rudy are very close. Joy's mother encourages Joy to give up her dreams of becoming a successful inventor although her grandmother and her best friend Jackie believe she will pursue her ideas and become a strong successful woman.
After divorcing his third wife, Joy's father starts dating Trudy, a wealthy Italian widow with some business experience. While on Trudy's boat, Joy drops a glass of red wine, attempts to mop up the mess, and cuts her hands on the broken glass while wringing the mop. Joy returns home and creates blueprints for a self-wringing mop. She builds a prototype with help from the employees at her father's shop. She then convinces Trudy to invest in the product. They make a deal with a company in California to