Falling Like Leaves

Ellis Mitchell is a driven high school senior interning at Street Media Corporation in New York City, where her father, Brad Mitchell, is the president. At the company's annual gala, she follows her father's advice to impress the CEO, Edward Street, by discussing foreign affairs. The next day, while filling out her application for Columbia University, Ellis finds herself distracted by the website for the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a nod to her private passion for fashion design.

Her carefully planned life shatters when her parents announce their separation. Her mother, Annie, reveals that she and Ellis are moving temporarily to Bramble Falls, Connecticut, to live with Annie’s sister, Naomi, and her cousin, Sloane. Ellis is devastated, arguing that leaving New York during her senior year will jeopardize her future.

Upon arriving in the quaint town of Bramble Falls, Ellis is assigned to sleep in the attic, which is filled with decorations for the town's annual Falling Leaves Festival. Sloane explains the festival is a series of autumn-themed events held every weekend. At a local coffee shop called The Caffeinated Cat, Ellis has a jarring reunion with Cooper Barnett, a boy she was close friends with, and even shared her first kiss with, during a summer visit years ago. She is struck by how attractive he has become, but he is cold and dismissive toward her. Sloane explains that her mother is the town mayor and that Cooper, whose mother is on the tourism board, is a frequent festival volunteer.

Ellis tries to make the best of her situation, using her sewing skills to create curtains for her attic room, but she clashes with her mother, whom she blames for derailing her future. Cooper comes to the house to help move festival decorations and continues to ignore Ellis. On her first day at Bramble Falls High, Ellis meets a charming, popular boy named Jake Keller. In calculus class, she tries to sit next to Cooper, but he immediately switches seats to avoid her. At lunch, Jake invites Ellis to sit with his friends, a group that includes an aloof Cooper. Deciding to make the most of her situation, Ellis volunteers for the festival events to bolster her college applications.

At the first event, apple picking at the Vanderbilt Orchard, Ellis helps an elderly woman named Dorothy and her grandson, Harley. Cooper is asked to accompany them. When Harley gets stuck in a tree, Ellis climbs a ladder to rescue him. Harley then accidentally knocks the ladder over, and Ellis sprains her ankle as she falls, but Cooper catches her. He gives her a piggyback ride, and they share a warm moment reminiscing. Feeling a renewed connection, Ellis asks him to get tacos, but he shuts her down. At the next event, the Apple Cider Tea Party, Sloane arranges for Ellis and Cooper to work together. The tension between them thaws, but Ellis becomes jealous of Chloe, a pretty classmate who is going to homecoming with Cooper. Later, during a car ride, Cooper confesses that he was hurt when Ellis "ghosted" him after their summer together, which is why he has been so distant.

Feeling ignored by her father, who has hired a new intern, Ellis impulsively asks Jake to dinner. He asks her to be his date for homecoming, and she agrees to go as friends. Ellis and Cooper grow closer while working together at the pumpkin patch and carving party events. Their budding reconnection is complicated when her father arranges a meeting for her in New York City with a Columbia admissions representative on the night of homecoming, forcing her to cancel on Jake. At the homecoming football game, Jake makes a public gesture to Ellis in the stands, which seems to upset Cooper. Later, Cooper confronts Ellis, criticizing her for hurting Jake.

On the night of homecoming, Ellis's meeting is canceled, and her father also cancels their plans. Heartbroken, she returns to Bramble Falls, where her mother helps her get ready for the dance. She surprises Jake by showing up in a black dress she designed herself. She and Cooper later share a slow dance outside, where he apologizes for yelling at her. When Chloe and Cooper are crowned homecoming king and queen, Ellis realizes she has feelings for him.

Ellis and Cooper's friendship deepens. After she falls asleep at his house while they work on a project, he stays up all night to finish it for her. At the Autumn Spice Sprint race, they are partnered together and almost kiss. That night, at the Boots and Blankets Bonfire, Cooper reveals his dream to open a bakery. Ellis makes an insensitive comment about his career choice, which upsets him. Later, at a secret senior tradition called Ghost in the Graveyard, Cooper confesses he fell for her years ago. He kisses her passionately but immediately pulls back, stating he cannot trust her not to leave and hurt him again. The following week, Jake asks Ellis to the Pumpkin Prom, a town-wide costume dance. She accepts, assuming Cooper plans to ask Chloe. At the corn maze event, Cooper reveals that Chloe is gay and they are just friends. He admits he regrets pushing Ellis away and kisses her again, but Jake and Slug discover them together.

Jake is hurt, but he and Ellis talk and agree to remain friends. Cooper and Ellis officially become a couple and begin working on a float for the final festival parade. Her panic intensifies when she learns her mother has put an offer on a house in Bramble Falls. Furious, Ellis leaves for New York, despite Cooper’s pleas for her to stay. He tells her it is their final goodbye. In New York, Ellis discovers her father is having an affair with Catherine Howe, the executive producer from the gala, and that he pressured her mother to give up her art career. Disgusted, Ellis leaves him.

With guidance from her best friend, Fern, Ellis realizes she must return to Bramble Falls. She tries to apologize to Cooper, but he rejects her, saying he cannot trust her and that she is too focused on her father's dreams. Ellis then has a heartfelt conversation with her mother, who encourages her to follow her own passion for fashion. This solidifies Ellis's decision to apply to FIT. For the final parade, Ellis makes a grand gesture by wearing a giant cookie costume she made. She gives a speech to Cooper, apologizing and declaring her feelings for him and her desire to stay in Bramble Falls. Moved, Cooper forgives her, and they kiss in front of the town.

In the epilogue, it is Thanksgiving, and Ellis is living with her mother in their new house. She and Cooper are a happy couple, working on their applications for FIT and culinary school. Their friends, including a reconciled Jake, celebrate a "Friendsgiving" with them. Ellis has not spoken to her father but is at peace, grateful to call both Bramble Falls and New York City her homes.