Pumpkin Movie
2017 · 10m · Canada
Directed by Sophy Romvari
Genres: documentary, essay film
Tones: contemplative, darkly comic, provocative
Two friends continue their annual Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins over Skype, swapping stories of everyday sexism in a hybrid-documentary.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Everyone's done the 'vulnerable conversation over video call' thing to death, but Romvari somehow dodges the trap by letting the pumpkins do the real work—the carving becomes this perfect low-key rebellion against the weight of what they're actually saying.
A formally precise essay that inherits the tradition of structural documentary (the annual ritual as container, the split-screen as dialectic) while refusing sentimentality; the restraint is the whole argument.
The genius move is treating the pumpkin carving not as metaphor but as counterweight—those small, rhythmic acts of creation against the heaviness of their stories is what makes this $0-budget film feel generative instead of heavy-handed.
Reviews
The anecdotes - which range in gravity, but are akin in their eerie familiarity - are told with the remedial laughter known to women who have little recourse but to do just that. Though their carving knives appear softened by the hazy colouration of Skype, Romvari's protagonists are ferocious in their sorority.