When two long-time friends call each other over Skype to continue their annual Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins together, they swap stories of negative encounters with men, both first- and secondhand, in this frank window into the pervasive nature of gender inequality.

All the stories are true, taken from their lives and the lives of friends. And in just 10 minutes, ‘Pumpkin Movie’ conveys a weary sense of just how exhausting it is for young women to live in a society that seems designed to remind them of their vulnerability and relative status. The fact that these two women are having this conversation while wielding large knives is its own mordant commentary.

When two long-time friends call each other over Skype to continue their annual Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins together, they swap stories of negative encounters with men, both first- and secondhand, in this frank window into the pervasive nature of gender inequality.

All the stories are true, taken from their lives and the lives of friends. And in just 10 minutes, ‘Pumpkin Movie’ conveys a weary sense of just how exhausting it is for young women to live in a society that seems designed to remind them of their vulnerability and relative status. The fact that these two women are having this conversation while wielding large knives is its own mordant commentary.