Body Horror, Bugs, and Boss Witches: A Review of Cherry Tree

Cherry Tree

Director: David Keating

Runtime: 86 Mins

Now streaming on Shudder.

Trigger Warning: Bugs, chilopodophobia triggers, Body Horror, Bullying, chronic illness/cancer, vomiting, dead animals/death of animals, flashing lights, self-harm/self-injury, claustrophobia, birthing scene, loss of a child/dead children, torture

“Death is the beginning of everything…”

“Cherry Tree” is an incredibly moody and darkly atmospheric film, which makes sense given its many heavy thematic elements. It is chock full of symbolism representing feminism, femininity and women’s issues, bond of family, bodily autonomy, sexual freedom, etc. Themes of loss are quite prevalent in this movie: loss of a parent, loss of life, loss of innocence, loss of childhood, etc etc. It is a very moody, atmospheric, and dark film centering around a 15-year-old virgin, Faith, who makes a pact with some dark witches in order to save her ailing father’s life. No good deed goes unpunished, of course, and the witches demand a sacrifice of Faith in exchange for their help. Navigating the ins-and-outs of high school life is hard enough, but when you’re also helping care for a chronically ill, cancer stricken parent things are even more difficult. Realizing she’s got a little more than she bargained for, Faith tries to take matters into her own hands, and sway the agreement more to her favor. The resulting ramifications of her emotional action leave her life forever changed in more ways than she could have remotely imagined.

If you’re not a fan of bugs, many-legged creatures that scuttle, or have a fear of centipedes/millipedes, you’re going to want to sit this one out. The movie does a great job in the first minutes of opening credits to weed out the phobic among the audience by filling plenty of cutscenes with these creepy crawlies. If you can only just barely get past those credits, please know there’s much more in store and they center as key components to many of the body horror scenarios. If that all actually sounds up your alley, then continuing on to watch this movie is going to be a treat.

As far as characters go, I felt they were all fairly well-developed, full of personality, and intriguing enough to be drawn in. I could have stood for a little more development of the friendship dynamics of Faith and her classmates, but overall it was enough that her motivations seemed clear, and her choices or responses fit their dynamics well enough. There’s some ridiculously queer energy coming off the coven leader, like really serious Bisexual Juju, if you will. We did get some gratuitous queer rep in the beginning, but honestly I’m not mad about it. It was kind of fun having the male characters sort of function as background pieces in many ways, and not taking center stage the way they usually do in a Final Girl/Scream Queen method. Sure, Faith’s actions are motivated by her father’s relationship with her, but that was partly emotionally driven by not wanting to see him suffer and honestly also in part because she was a selfish teenager who wants life to normalize.

Following on that concept, it’s worth noting that the women in this movie have all the power and agency, which is not a usual dynamic for Horror. Sure, Final Girls and Scream Queens are the heroines, but they’re so full of male-dominated trauma that sometimes it sort of defeats the purpose.

I really love that the director and writer harnessed that “girl power” energy and really leaned into symbolism here; I was honestly fairly surprised to see they were both men. The women in this story are absolutely in charge in every aspect. Women teachers are in charge of the class, run the social circles, coach athletics teams, manage the households, provide healthcare and support, as well as lead and manage a coven of witches. They fill the roles traditionally cast as male figures in horror films: men in charge, men at work, men who know “the way things work”. The women also use their sexual energy and confidence to take back their power, in more ways than one. The house and witches’ lair also represents that women “build and maintain the home” and are the “center of the family unit.” I liked the idea of playing with that concept, challenging the “domestic life” vibe. The use of cherries as a representation for sexual overtones and also virginity is fun, cheeky, and really sensual.

It’s got great visuals that go along with its themes and character design. The use of color in this movie is very prominent, balancing a cool blueish-greenish cast that creates a moody, brooding type feel contrasted with a complimentary orange-reddish hue. Red is a major focus, being a very symbolic color representing passion, emotion, anger, fierceness, hunger, and yes, even to represent menstrual blood as a Divine Feminine symbol, a common theme in many witchy stories. The angles used also help portray character relationships and power struggles; Faith is often shot at an angle that makes her slightly lower or smaller than the Coven Leader or her teacher. The Coven Leader is often centered in her shots or at a Dutch angle that casts her from an upward view.

Moving along from all of those “subtle messages” and themes, this is also just a straight up fun horror movie in my book, combining the best things of some of my favorite movies. I found a few nods to films such as “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Suspiria” and “Evil Dead” (not one of my faves but I respect its genre standing!) and a touch of Angelica-Huston-version of “The Witches.” There are also handful of good jump scares, one fairly early on that got me and made me chuckle; it’s very hard to get me on stuff like that as I usually see it coming. And if you’re looking for gross-out body horror, spurts and geysers of blood, or beheadings, you're going to get plenty of that too. As I mentioned before, it’s worth noting there are a lot of insect themes to the witch scenes; you will have a very hard time getting through any of the “good parts” if you’re trying to close your eyes to avoid bugs. On that topic, I’d also like to commend the costume and practical effects department on their use of blending bugs and trees into their coven aesthetic. I won’t spoil anything else, but I really loved that campy vibe I got ala something one might see in an alien race on Star Trek or Doctor Who style visual effects, maybe even a pinch of Hellraiser?

Overall, I really enjoyed watching this! I realize that I tend to enjoy films from Ireland, but especially ones that sort of lean into the characters or elements of regional folklore (witches, spirits, etc.). The Irish folks just seem to really grasp that sort of fare and run with it, so I’m not surprised I liked this one. More spooky Irish films for me, please! In conclusion, it may not be perfect, but it’s a pretty solid low-budget flick and definitely fun enough to include for a Witchy Movie Marathon, if you can stomach a lot of body horror and bugs. (Seriously. So. Many. Bugs. So! Many! Moving! Tiny! Legs!!!)

By Ellen Avigliano

Twitter: @imaginariumcs

Instagram: @imaginariumarts @thejackalopes.warren

Website: www.imaginariumarts.com