Cherry

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2022 REVIEW! In director Sophie Galibert’s feature debut Cherry, one of the most upsetting subject matters possible, abortion, gets chewed up and spat out like gum. Cherry (Alexandria Trewhitt) is a 25-year-old searching for herself when she finds she’s pregnant. She promptly loses her job as a street magician for a costume shop and goes to the doctor. Dr. Amalia Garcia-Ortega (Sandy Duarte) informs Cherry she is in her 11th week and must decide in the next several hours whether she will keep it, as, after the 12th week, the abortion is an operation instead of a pill.

“…Cherry she is in her 11th week and must decide in the next several hours whether she will keep it…”

Cherry sees Jess (Alice Bang), who runs the rollerskating show troop she used to belong to. Cherry wants to tell Jess she is pregnant, but Jess informs Cherry first that the group is going on tour and asks her to join. Cherry says she’ll think about it and then hops down to the roller rink where her boyfriend, Nick (Dan Schultz), works as a DJ. She tries telling him the big news, but Nick has big moves happening with an album coming out. So Cherry skates in circles until she finds a nifty way to show Nick she is pregnant. After the brouhaha that occurs, Cherry spends the rest of the 24 hours she has to decide whether to get an abortion, finding loved ones to almost tell that she’s pregnant but does not.

Reviewing almost exclusively in the indie sector, I feel we are in the middle of a flashpoint of some great wild cinema, with some astounding feature debuts from new talent arriving one after another. Cherry is not among that group of debuts. It should be, as Galibert’s from France and is now based in Los Angeles, which is usually an exciting concoction. This comedic drama has no kick to it, though. To call the movie weak would not be fitting, as weakness has distinct identifying qualities while this has none. The filmmaker has previously excelled in writing and directing shorts.