Greetings again from the darkness. I’m not sure if pumpkins get short-changed with most of their attention coming only during one season, or if perhaps they receive more attention than deserved during that season. Either way, pumpkins are rarely at the center of a cinematic event … despite having their moments during animated TV specials like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “Spookley, the Square Pumpkin”. Director John McPhail (the excellent ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, 2017) sets out to change that with a screenplay by a trio of writers: Nick Guthrie (MINI’S FIRST TIME, 2006), Ruth Fletcher (“Hawaii Five-O”), and Ruth’s husband and writing partner, Christos N. Gage.
Common sense tells us that if you are going to have a family-friendly, heartwarming story, then you best include a kid worthy of attention. When we first meet young Charlie Little (Priya Rose-Brookwell, “The Lazarus Project”), she’s trying to escape from a home for abandoned kids so that she can track down her mother … a mother who left her behind to pursue the bright lights of Hollywood. Instead of locating her mother, Charlie gets connected with her Aunt Dinah (Golda Rosheuvel, “Bridgerton”). It’s not a smooth transition because Charlie is a precocious child who wants to be loved, and Aunt Dinah is a very reserved woman trying to make ends meet on her struggling Little Farm.
Mugford, the local village, is known as the Pumpkin Capital of the World, and Charlie immediately dedicates herself to winning the cash prize at this year’s contest for the biggest pumpkin. See, Charlie is not just a spirited kid, she is also one with plants – she converses with them, and feels what they feel. Charlie and Dinah enlist the help of Arlo (Nick Frost, The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy), a local with some past success in the contest. What’s surprising here is the nefarious activities of those involved with the contest – secrets, vandalism, and outright cheating. In other words, the pumpkin contest turns into a life lesson for young Charlie who always sees the best in others – even Toby the dog.
Charlie pampers ‘Peter’, her prize pumpkin, while we get riffs on PSYCHO and THE GODFATHER, and even a use for lion dung. Supporting work comes from Joe Wilkinson (“After Life”) as Dinah’s former farmhand, Jane Horrocks and Tim McInnerny as local pumpkin legends, and Jeremy Swift (“Ted Lasso”) as a lab technician under intense pressure. The film reminds me of some of the Disney movies from the 1960’s, as it’s charming and funny, and offers up some life lessons – complete with emotional depth as the relationship between Charlie and her Aunt Dinah develops. I don’t get many full-blown family films to review, and it’s nice to see one that works on multiple levels.
Opens nationwide on October 17, 2025
Posted by David Ferguson 
Movie Reviews from the Dark 