FORBIDDEN FRUITS
(Check out Jessica Baxter’s Forbidden Fruits movie review. It hits theaters Friday, March 27. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
The newest addition to the toxic female friendship cinema pantheon is here and it’s called Forbidden Fruits. The film’s aesthetics recall classics like Heathers, The Craft, and Jennifer’s Body. But you’d better believe those comparisons are entirely intentional. I was not at all surprised to learn that Diablo Cody has her phrase-coining producer paws all over this thing. The debut feature for director and co-writer Meredith Alloway is based on the stage play, Of the women came the beginning of sin and through her we all die by Lily Houghton. The tag line on Houghton’s website reads, “a final girl writing plays/TV/films in a Lisa Frank journal”. If that means anything to you, you just might be the target audience for this film.
The success of Fruits really does rely on finding its target. But those they’re aiming for will be thrilled. The play’s lengthy original title (tough to fit on a movie poster) is a bible quote (Ecclesiasticus 25:25), which, in so uncertain terms, blames women for everything that’s ever gone wrong in this world, including the existence of death. Naturally, the film’s protagonists embrace this blame by forming a witch coven in the stock room of the high-end fast fashion mall store where they also work. In the play, the store is Free People (ironically named given their labor practices) because that’s where Houghton worked, at a mall in the suburbs of Houston, when she was inspired to write it.
For the film, they further evoke biblical themes by changing the name of the store to Free Eden and peppering the set design with snake and apple imagery. The leader of the coven is, in fact, named Apple (Lily Reinhart, Hustlers, TV’s Riverdale), as in the forbidden fruit that Eve eats in Genesis, gaining worldly knowledge. God punishes her and everyone else for the disobedience, thus inventing the patriarchy.
The other coven members likewise adopt produce-based names. Victoria Pedretti (TV’s You) is Cherry, and Alexandra Shipp (Barbie) is Fig. Lola Tong (The Summer I Turned Pretty) is Pumpkin, the group’s latest interloper. They do, in fact, have an opening after the mysterious departure of Pickle (Emma Chamberlain), but they’re hesitant to open their beaded curtain to a lowly pretzel sample girl from across the food court. Pervasive Pumpkin won’t take no for an answer, and soon, they’re initiating her in their stock room using a bejeweled cowboy boot, blood, tears, and a hilarious string of magic words.
On the surface, the coven is about female community and empowerment. As Apple says, “Women without a garden won’t grow. So, we have to build our own.” But Fruits membership also includes a slightly esoteric ethos that Cherry and Fig are afraid to disobey. For instance, they aren’t allowed to interact with men outside of emoji-based texts. (A horned-up Cherry has a particularly difficult time adhering to this one). They also aren’t allowed to speak any words disparaging themselves or other women, lest they “dim their light.” Although, Apple seems to find plenty of back-handed ways to get around this one. They’re also extremely image and brand-obsessed, which is about as far from free as you can be.
Apple might not “believe in hierarchy in female friendships”, but she certainly acts like she’s in charge. She embraces Pumpkin as her protegee. However, in classic horror fashion, Apple’s creation soon grows beyond her and threatens to ruin everything the Fruits have built by exposing their secrets. Pumpkin has become a Lisa Frankenstein creation, if you will (thanks, Diablo). And she may even have had designs on the Fruits since the beginning. Apple insists that they “must protect our sisterhood by any means necessary”. Given the black comedy genre, those means get very messy.
Cinematographer Karim Hussein also shot Infinity Pool and Possessor. You’ve never seen a tapestry-draped mall shop look more sinister and otherworldly than under his eye. They also scored editor Hanna Park (Shiva Baby, Bottoms) who ties it all together beautifully. Fun fact: they shot in the same mall as Mean Girls.
Forbidden Fruits, which debuted at SXSW in March 2026, has already spawned a rabid fan base with a name: The Fruit Basket. Rest assured, clips, memes, and lines will be popping up around the internet any minute now. It’s only a matter of time before you start seeing Stanley cups emblazoned with lines from the film, such as, “I am both ride *and* die”, “could somebody having a nervous breakdown go on a jog?”, and “anybody with a tiny heart tattooed on their body is truly alone”. How very.
– Jessica Baxter (@TheBaxter)
