Evelyn wins useful things such as a large freezer, ice buckets, a washer, and dryer set, a trip to New York City, a window, a sports car, a shopping spree in her local grocery store, and ice crushers; as well as less useful or necessary things such sleds, boots, a pony, a palm tree, a camera, dance shoes, a boat motor, pogo sticks, a case of dog food, and a lifetime supply of bird seed, which she exchanges for money.

As time passes, the older children start moving out for college and participating in sports careers, lessening some burdens on the family.

Ultimately, Evelyn discovers that Kelly had secretly taken out a second mortgage on their house and never made payments on it, leaving the family subject to an almost-certain foreclosure.

Years later, it is revealed that after Kelly died, Evelyn finds out that he has placed his pension checks in a bank account especially for her to make up for all the failures he made as a husband and father.

The site's consensus states: "Noteworthy for Julianne Moore's performance, Prize Winner is nonetheless a largely indistinct and tentative film that fails to convey the true power of its bittersweet tale.