Alexandra Shipp, Victoria Pedretti, Lili Reinhart, and Lola Tung in "Forbidden Fruits." Photo by Sabrina Lantos for Elle magazine

“Forbidden Fruits,” directed by breakout director Meredith Alloway, earned $2.3 million at the box office during its opening weekend in late March. It is considered to be a horror/fantasy film about a secret coven of witches operating behind the scenes of a mall store called Free Eden. The group is led by Apple, played by Lili Reinhart (“Riverdale,” “Hal & Harper”), whose leadership draws employees into something far more unsettling than it first appears.

In an interview with Collider, Alloway frames the film as a way to question “what is feminism now? What is it like trying to build a garden in a capitalist cement block that is a mall?”

Though the film centers around friendship and sisterhood, it references horror and comedy from the early 2000s. The inspiration for the film came from “Jennifer’s Body” (2009) and “Mean Girls” (2004). Alloway states she wanted to create a similar film to the latter but as a slasher. The fountain that we see in the mall is actually the same one from the 2004 “Mean Girls” movie.

Reinhardt portrays the opposite of her role in “Riverdale,” being the lead mean girl, Apple. Pumpkin, played by Lola Tung (“The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Chasing Summer”), just moved to the city and received a job at the mall working at Salty Sirens. Pumpkin soon sees the forbidden fruits group of Apple, Cherry and Fig, and tries to find ways to impress Apple to let her join. However, she has no idea what she’s about to get herself into or what sisterhood has in store for her.

Cherry, played by Victoria Pedretti (“You,” “The Haunting of Hill House”), starts to grow jealous as her and Apple’s friendship is very important to her. Providing some comedy-relief, Cherry is somewhat naive, often making decisions based on emotion rather than carefully thinking about her actions.

Reinhart, in an interview with Close Up, stated “I’ve known Victoria’s work over the last few years, so when she was cast, I was really intrigued to see how she would play Cherry but nothing prepares you for the transformation she delivers—the voice, the mannerisms, everything. Even little things.I remember being on set thinking, ‘I can’t wait for people to see this.’”

In that same interview with Close Up, Alexandra Shipp (“Violent Ends,” “Glenrothan”) who portrays Fig confidently and with charisma, said, “I think she comes into the coven wanting the discounts and I think she ends up leaving with a sisterhood she would die for.”

The film gained attention for featuring Emma Chamberlain who is a fashion influencer known for her unique style and vlogs since she started posting on YouTube in 2017, at the age of 16. Chamberlain appears as Pickle, and she is also the face on the teaser poster.

The visuals in “Forbidden Fruits” are really interesting because everything looks warm and kind of dreamy to contrast how the characters are actually feeling. The lighting and colors make things seem fun or perfect on the surface, even though there’s more going on underneath.

There are also a lot of close-up shots that focus on facial expressions, similar to “Mean Girls,” while some of the wider shots make the characters feel kind of alone, even when they’re with other people. The sound and music in the film draw from the pop music sounds of the early 2000s. The soundtrack features a cover of DJ Sammy’s “Heaven.”

Overall, “Forbidden Fruits” is a movie that tries very hard to be campy and fun, so it definitely is not for everyone. It is a satire that toys with some horror tropes and is one of those movies where you either want to like it or can’t help but like it.

“Forbidden Fruits” had a limited theater release. The film is available for pre-order on Amazon Prime and will be available to stream on Shudder on June 26. “Forbidden Fruits” is rated R for strong violent content/gore, sexual content, nudity, language and brief drug use.