Director PJ Hogan's award-winning comedy Muriel's Wedding (Australia, 1994) celebrates Muriel as a misfit and a daydreamer determined to escape her dysfunctional family. The film also introduced actress Toni Collette to a global audience.

Robert McFarlane's still is taken at a revealing moment halfway through the film when Muriel is caught trying on a wedding gown for an imaginary wedding. She despairingly confesses to her friend Rhonda, played by Rachel Griffiths, how much getting married means to her: 'If I can get married it means that I'm changed, I'm a new person… [not] Muriel Heslop. Stupid, fat and useless. I hate her!'