Female Film Critics 24/375
Like Mean Girls by way of Heathers, Jawbreaker, and The Craft, Meredith Alloway’s stylish, buzzy dark horror comedy Forbidden Fruits takes a critical look at the power dynamics of female friendship — with healthy doses of witchcraft and gore tossed in for good measure. Taking place almost entirely in a Texas mall, it also skewers the impact of influencer culture on everything from fashion trends to slang to coffee orders.
Read more
Imagine a decidedly adult comedy horror feature that is equal parts Mean Girls, Heathers, and The Craft, and you’ll have a pretty good sense of what’s in store for audiences when they sit down to watch Forbidden Fruits. The film, which is destined to become this generation’s cult classic, is directed by Meredith Alloway, who partnered on the screenplay with playwright and writer/producer Lily Houghton, as adapted from her play Of the Women. Right from the beginning, that sets it apart from its influences.
Read more
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.
Read more
Look Both Ways is the tamest version of a “what if?” story you’ll see this year. Granted, not every film about other lives lived can match the off-the-wall creativity of Everything Everywhere All at Once—but some greater dramatic stakes could have made this more than an OK watch. The plot follows the lead character, Natalie, in two timelines — in one, she’s pregnant and decides to co-parents, putting her career dreams on hold. In the other, she’s not pregnant, so she and her friend drive to Los Angeles to pursue their careers.
Read more
It just wouldn’t be summer without a teen drama to tug at our heartstrings. The latest is Amazon Studio’s Chemical Hearts, an irresistible love story directed and written by Richard Tanne. This is a surprisingly, multi-layered teen movie about acceptance, tolerance and of course falling in love.
Read more