Directed by Meredith Alloway

Written by Meredith Alloway and Lily Houghton

Starring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp

With the commitment to its own candy coating and its camp, this becomes a fun time whose cast is all for the ride. I get why people have been comparing this to Mean Girls and The Craft, and I also saw a review draw a connection between this and The Clique. There’s certainly a nostalgic quality to this ride that provides a nice throwback to an earlier era of these stories that unfold in contained environments and build up the tension and hostility of the little clubs inside them. It makes sense for Diablo Cody to show up with a producing credit. As much as this is very obviously treading in the footsteps of what preceded it, though, I do think it’s ultimately able to make its mark under the direction of Meredith Alloway, who co-wrote the script with Lily Houghton—the latter having adapted this from her 2019 stage play Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die. It’s proper to know that this is a Bible verse, which is worth examining alongside the thematic material in this film. I can imagine this being a play, considering how much it confines the drama in one primary setting—that setting being a mall, where people get to hang out in a hub of capitalism that can allow for something superficially charming like Free Eden to set up shop, but proceeds to harbor a toxic swamp of resentment, arrogance, and paranoia underneath the surface. Apple, Pumpkin, Fig, and Cherry are all having to wrestle with these poisons, and it becomes increasingly engaging to see their responses and their inter-relationships.

I’ll admit that for the first twenty minutes to thirty minutes, I’m in a state where I’m finding the dialogue to be somewhat corny, but I can still enjoy the devotion to the the silliness of this microcosm and the bright pop-pop-pops of the visuals. Kudos to the snazzy costume design, including Cherry’s cowgirl getup and Pumpkin’s red-and-white off-the-shoulder top. As the story develops further, though, we get a closer look at these characters and what drives them forward, with Cherry particularly standing out as the kind of individual who might seem like an airhead and leave you dismissing her at first glance, but then it turns out that the movie is capable of giving her more meat to dig into. A scene that has her taking refuge in a confessional with the spirit of Marilyn Monroe stands out as a strong moment for the movie to flesh out the core of her character. It helps that Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp are all geared up for the journey that this coven embarks on together. There’s no shame coming from them as they plunge into this world and share in moments like Cherry declaring that she’s “both ride and die” and Fig claiming she’s got FOMO over not being part of the elite dead dads club. I’m especially happy to see Tung star in a movie, considering all the time that her career had previously spent on the TV in the form of The Summer I Turned Pretty. She deserves to grow beyond that, and it will be excellent to watch her star in Osgood Perkins’s The Young People and the sapphic soccer rom-com Ripe! down the road.

If there’s anything I have to truly criticize this movie for, it’s the choice to restrain itself from being more overtly witchy. Come on, unleash the dark magic of this sisterhood! If we’re going to draw parallels between this and The Craft so much, then let’s cast more of these spells and hexes. In addition, I’d known beforehand that this wouldn’t explore queer territory, and like the other viewers who’ve expressed their own confusion at this decision, I’m baffled over this issue, since it could have easily woven queerness into the situation and make things even more complex. That being said, these critiques ultimately don’t detract significantly from my investment in this miniature matriarchy that’s running into a power struggle under Apple’s leadership. She wields her authority over the young women in her sisterhood in order to judge what’s right and what’s wrong on their behalf, and it’s only a matter of time before the others covertly carry out their own acts of disobedience that shake up the structure. The aforementioned Biblical layer remains an important facet to unpack when you’re looking at how this movie handles its ideas of control, purity, and sin.

For a movie that doesn’t dish out the gore most of the time, it knows how to get intense once the grisliness does spill out onto the screen. There’s specifically one kill in the third act that makes me go, “Wait, is this actually going to go through with it…?” And then oh, it does! The meatiness of this kill cinches it as one of the more gruesome things that I’ve seen a piece of horror media whip out lately. Coincidentally, it’s also evocative of The Final Destination—my least-favorite FD, but it’s not a bad thing at all for me to use this comparison. As for a certain reveal in the conclusion, I’ve seen others say it felt cheap, but personally, I like the context that it adds onto the circumstances. I wonder how that would work on rewatch. And once the credits roll for an ending that seems like it’s maybe, just maybe leaving the door open for a sequel, I’m left coming out of Forbidden Fruits on a high note. It’s a shame that this had such a limited theatrical run, but at least people are able to stream it now, especially while it’s on Shudder.

My final rating: 4 out of 5 stars