Pop Commentary

The new film “Forbidden Fruits” just didn’t do it for me. You would think I would love a movie that’s basically an amalgamation of “Mean Girls,” “Heathers,” and “The Craft,” but I don’t think it was executed very well.

The synopsis

In “Forbidden Fruits,” a mall employee played by Lili Reinhart leads a secret witch cult with her two coworkers. Then, a new hire joins and begins to question their sisterhood, which forces them to confront inner darkness or meet violent ends.

The drag

My biggest critique of the film is that the writing was just not great. They tried to shove in a bunch of cliche references and one-liners that just did not land in the theater I was in.

I also wish the film leaned into the witchcraft of it all a little more. They do a few witchy things in the store they work at, but they definitely could have incorporated more magic into the story, especially at the end when it was pretty much abandoned.

And this is a small complaint, but the way the characters spoke about the storm that hit the mall was pretty nonsensical. They said there would be a tornado warning all night and that’s just not how tornado warnings work. That would be a tornado watch. It just seemed like lazy writing to me.

The gag

The biggest highlight of the film for me was Victoria Pedretti’s performance. She played a ditzy woman but somehow made it the most layered character in the movie.

And another thing I liked about the film was how it kind of went off the rails in a fun way towards the end. Once blood began to spill, the story became campier and more exciting.

The verdict

Unfortunately, those positive aspects weren’t enough to save the movie for me. I appreciated what the film was trying to do, but it just wasn’t successful.

If you’ve seen “Forbidden Fruits,” let me know what you thought of it in the comments and subscribe to Pop Commentary for more film and TV reviews like this!