CHERRY

Tom Holland stars as Cherry, an Army medic, who returns from war to his Ohio home and his wife Emily (Ciara Bravo) while struggling to readjust to life due to his PTSD. Unable to cope with the horrors he's seen abroad, he soon turns to drugs to self-medicate his pain away with the aid of his friends, who are users themselves. Before long, the drugs are controlling him rather than him having control over his habit. His wife Emily, to deal with her husband's, at times violent outbursts and distance, soon turns to the drugs herself in order to get back at Cherry in a way, with them both eventually becoming addicts. Their shared lifestyle forces Cherry to rob banks to finance both of their addictions that turns from pills like Oxy to heroin. What makes this tale especially sad is how lovely their love story is setup. They're two college kids with Cherry being the more awkward of the two, while Emily suppresses her feelings due to trust issues she has from her father having an affair that she caught him having. The cinematography is very well done as in a lot of the scenes during the first couple of acts, the audience is right in the middle of the action, feeling like either a fly on the wall or an active participate in the scene. The lighting the Russo's utilize also really stands out throughout the film. The scenes where Cherry's in basic training are framed differently as well, with the scope of the screen shrinking to signify his lack of freedom within the service. The Russo's use a lot of various techniques throughout the film, which is very appreciated as it changes the aspect of the film, holding the audiences attention, as well as eliciting certain emotions from the viewer as well. Wonderfully strong performances by both Holland and Bravo, they make a great couple onscreen and their chemistry can be seen for the entire duration of the film (nothing seems forced). What makes the film especially sad is that it's based on true events. Available through Apple TV+, this is definitely worth watching. 6.5/10