Who What Wear — The Women of Forbidden Fruits Are Rewriting the Gospel of Girlhood
Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Lili Reinhart, and Alexandra Shipp unpack their new horror-comedy that reimagines sisterhood as a sin.
Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her, we all die.”
The first time a woman was blamed for everything, it was biblical.
Long before tabloids crowned their weekly villains and comment sections sharpened their knives, there was Eve—framed as the origin of ruin. It’s been more than 2000 years since that line, referencing the fall in the book of Genesis, was etched into scripture and exactly zero days since women stopped being told they are each other’s downfall. The narrative might evolve, but the accusation that women are each other’s undoing sticks. You see tabloid headlines, Reddit snark posts, and whispers about who did what to get to the top.
Evil doesn’t die. It simply reinvents itself. Misogyny has a remarkable talent for sticking around.
Enter Forbidden Fruits, the upcoming indie horror-dramedy from director Meredith Alloway that takes that ancient blame game and twists it into something deliciously deranged. The film, premiering March 27, trades the Garden of Eden for a suburban Texas mall and swaps Eve for a cult of witchy retail employees on the verge of a quiet mental breakdown. Among the creative forces behind it is producer Diablo Cody, who is best known for the teen horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body. Starring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp, Forbidden Fruits is a dark take that sinks its teeth into the complicated nature of female dynamics.
The film—adapted from Lily Houghton’s 2023 stage play inspired by the same opening biblical verse—has all the hallmarks of a deeply rotted cult classic in the making: campy outfits, a questionable wig budget, gallons of syrupy fake blood that rivals that of a Final Destination film, and a star-studded cast that makes you question how they got all of these actors in the same room.
“From the beginning, cowriter Lily Houghton and I knew the key was finding actors who could balance the satire and the emotional honesty of the film,” explains Alloway. Over the course of several weeks, Alloway and Houghton met with each of the actors on Zoom before they were officially cast, tapping into their inner psyche. “Watching all of them together in rehearsal for the first time was magnificent—it was musical. They were playing off each other in real time, understanding how to balance their different energies as characters,” Alloway continues. It certainly helps that the film was shot exclusively from the hours of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., adding to the delirious state of the actors playing delirious characters. It’s peak trauma bonding at its finest.
The chemistry is crucial. Frankly, it’s what sucks you in as a viewer when watching Forbidden Fruits for the first time. Beneath the glittery dresses, food court pretzels, and fluorescent store lighting, Forbidden Fruits isn’t really about witchcraft or the occult. It’s about the tension that exists in hierarchy. The women’s underground cult promises empowerment, but its currency is proximity. To be anointed (or, in the case of the film, bullied) is to be adored. To be adored is to be envied, and in this world, envy puts you in a dangerous position—fast.
Take, for example, Apple (played by Reinhart) the fierce lesbian ringleader who drives the narrative forward. She commands the basement cult with a mix of icy-cold stares and intimidation. Her presence is a gravitational force that pulls the other women into orbit. Reinhart’s Apple isn’t a stereotypical larger-than-life cartoon villain. She’s magnetic and manipulative, but by the finale, she feels deeply broken and human.
Continue reading Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp Cover the Newest Issue of Who What Wear
