Little Empty Boxes — Max Lugavere's dementia documentary, continued streaming distribution
Advancing
Little Empty Boxes is the documentary about his mother’s dementia that Max Lugavere co-directed with Chris Newhard over the course of a decade, released theatrically on April 19, 2024. Per Lugavere’s own podcast episode descriptions in 2026, the film remains available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video, and he continues to promote it weekly via his podcast and at maxlugavere.com/film.
Critical reception is mixed, per the dossier’s sourced criticism: the New York Times found the film “uneven” outside the relationship story, Movie Jawn said it felt like using a loved one’s death to sell supplements, and IndieWire noted the impossibility of treating a disease with no easy answers. Lugavere’s mother died in 2019 after a decline from what he says was Lewy body dementia beginning around 2011 — the story that anchors his public work on diet, metabolism, and dementia prevention.
Timeline
- April 19, 2024 — Theatrical release of Little Empty Boxes, co-directed with Chris Newhard.
- 2026 — Still streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video; Lugavere promotes it in weekly podcast episode descriptions and at maxlugavere.com/film.
