FORBIDDEN FRUITS – Review by Liz Whittemore
Meredith Alloway’s deliciously campy horror comedy Forbidden Fruits follows three witchy retail queen bees and the new co-worker who dares to defy the clique and its hierarchy. Alloway and co-writer Lily Houghton deliver a cheeky mashup of Mean Girls and The Craft. In the Forbiden Fruits story, Cherry, Fig, and newcomer Pumpkin are dominated by Apple, but Pumpkin suspects that something rotten is in their shopping mall coven.
The cast is terrific. Alexandra Shipp gives Fig a tangibility that helps the audience connect beyond the caricature extremes (a complete compliment) of her counterparts. Victoria Pedretti, who is clearly a Time Lord aging backwards, brings the laughs as Cherry. She’s complicated far beyond her bubbleheaded tone. Lili Reinhart gives Apple an energy level that Regina George would envy, bringing the sapphic level to 1000. Lola Tung as Pumpkin is filled with a sass that perfectly counters Reinhart’s domineering demeanor. Their relationship is a tasty ping-pong match. Together, all four of our ladies serve their quirk up on a platter.
Houghton and Alloway do not simply give us vapid girls. They produce fleshed-out complex female characters in Jawbreaker packaging. The film’s costume department deserves a standing ovation. Bow down to the music supervisors for a soundtrack of the girly pop-rock gods. If I didn’t know Diablo Cody was producing, I would swear this was one of her scripts, as it emits Jennifer’s Body energy through and through. The third act will fill genre fans’ cups to overflowing. Don’t you dare get up when the credits begin. Like any fresh concept horror film, Forbidden Fruits is ripe for a franchise.
