Rotten or fresh? Alloway picks ‘Forbidden Fruits’

Cinema | April 8th, 2026

By Greg Carlson

“Forbidden Fruits” practically begs for the grammarian’s old “which witch is which” query, given that Meredith Alloway’s wildly uneven feature directorial debut bounces from one genre to another and never quite finds a consistent tone or gear. The filmmaker’s game cast members, channeling the sensibilities of inspirations from “Heathers” to “The Craft” to “Jawbreaker” to “Mean Girls,” stretch out the frequently thin satire with generous mock seriousness. The principal quartet — all terrific — includes Lili Reinhart as alpha queen Apple, Victoria Pedretti as dim-bulb sex bomb Cherry, Alexandra Shipp as the brainier and more secretive Fig and Lola Tung as newcomer/initial outsider Pumpkin.

Set in a Dallas, Texas shopping mall where Apple, Cherry and Fig clerk at the overpriced boutique Free Eden, “Forbidden Fruits” launches a full volley of putdowns and jabs aimed at a wide variety of targets. From toxic competition among good friends (who are anything but true-blue) to a critique of materialism and consumer culture in thrall to the worst features of mindless capitalism, Alloway initially indicates some interest in unpacking the difficulties and complexities of girlhood/womanhood in our artificial(ly) (un)intelligent landscape. Curiously, the movie also embraces a level of violence and gore arriving quite late in the story.

Viewers are invited to identify with the experiences of Pumpkin, who trades the unflattering paper hat of food court pretzelmaker Sister Salt’s for the chic attire worn by her new pals. Unfazed by the revelation that the Free Eden staffers operate as a coven of witches, Pumpkin soon discovers dark and unsettling secrets that deflate the phony sisterhood championed by her new coworkers. On paper, “Forbidden Fruits” promises enough over-the-top provocation to satisfy seekers of the weird and wonderful. And our actors never flinch at the most outrageous stunts, including a spell involving menstrual blood that caused one viewer in my screening to nope out.

Whether or not Alloway’s movie ever attains the kind of cult status enjoyed by some of her film’s cinematic influences, at least “Forbidden Fruits” demands a consistent level of attention. It’s a bummer, then, that the director’s visual instincts, or lack thereof, tend toward monotonous and flat compositions that stick to medium shots better suited to tablets and phones than the big screen. That approach is a shame, given the ability of any of the performers to partake in some serious scene stealing. Pedretti, whose oversexed Cherry channels the vulnerability of Marilyn Monroe while engaging in a raucous series of dressing room seductions, transcends her role’s vapid desolation.

Alloway co-wrote the screenplay with Lily Houghton, adapting the latter’s 2019 play “Of the Woman Came the Beginning of Sin, and Through Her We All Die.” As translated, the stage origins are impossible to ignore. South by Southwest hosted the film version’s world premiere just last month, ahead of a short theatrical window and an eventual home on streaming services (Shudder and the Independent Film Company are distributing). And while the bulk of the movie’s audience will discover it at home, “Forbidden Fruits” is best experienced in an auditorium filled with people gasping and laughing and injecting an energy upon which it desperately depends.

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