Snow Falling on Pumpkins

Jeff London’s Snow Falling on Pumpkins is a quietly powerful drama that treats early‑onset Alzheimer’s with intimacy and restraint. The film follows Michael, played with luminous vulnerability by Ben Stobber, whose moments of confusion are rendered with heartbreaking specificity yet never reduce him to a condition. Mel England as James provides the emotional backbone—a partner whose devotion shifts from joyful discovery to weary, fierce advocacy without ever becoming maudlin. Their chemistry is the film’s steadying force.

London’s direction privileges small rituals over broad statements, allowing domestic details to accumulate into a portrait of love practiced daily. Scenes linger on gestures—making coffee, labeling photos, re‑reading letters—that become both anchors and elegies. The supporting ensemble, including BJ Mezek, Barbara Reininger, Tony Enos and Liam Fountain, creates a credible network of friends and family whose interventions feel compassionate, messy, and human. Elaine Ballace’s final performance is a quietly resonant coda, lending the film additional emotional weight.

The screenplay resists tidy resolutions, instead mapping grief as a series of negotiations: what to keep, what to let go, and how identity persists beyond memory. At times the pacing is deliberate to the point of testing patience, and a few narrative threads could use sharper focus. Still, the film’s honesty and tactile filmmaking deliver a moving meditation on presence, care, and the choices that define intimacy. Snow Falling on Pumpkins' compassion, strong performances, and understated craft make it an affecting exploration of love in the face of disappearance.

We give Pumpkins 4 out of 5 Potatoes