Cherry

Cherry, directed by Jeffrey Fine, had its world premiere at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival as a comedy drama. The film follows 17 year old Aaron, from an engineering family and pressured by his mother into studying engineering at Yale despite his real interest in art, as he gets caught between Linda, a single mother he befriends at university, and her 14 year old daughter Beth, who falls for him. The film was praised for its solid script, well timed direction, and performances from relatively unknown actors, with critics appreciating Fine's avoidance of predictable narrative clichés, though some found the dynamic between an adult and an underage girl more unsettling than illuminating. Who it's for: anyone curious about an independent coming of age film that avoids clichés while following a teenager torn between artistic passion and family expectations. Who it's not for: viewers wanting to avoid uncomfortable themes, since the film directly engages an underage character's interest in an adult figure.