{"id":1850810,"date":"2026-03-27T13:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850810"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:59:00","slug":"6lilith6-inside-the-witchy-femme-mall-cult-of-forbidden-fruits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850810","title":{"rendered":"6LILITH6: Inside the witchy femme mall cult of Forbidden Fruits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/864\/78-0-864-576\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442692.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/film-tv\/article\/70005\/1\/forbidden-fruits-film-meredith-alloway-interview-2026\" data-article-id=\"70005\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Forbidden-Fruits\" class=\"img\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1024\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442692.jpg\" width=\"1024\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Forbidden Fruits<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T13:59:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - film-tv\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>6LILITH6: Inside the witchy femme mall cult of <span class=\"nowrap\">Forbidden Fruits<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>The new horror-comedy, featuring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti and Alexandra Shipp, follows a group of women who are mall workers by day \u2013 and witchy cultists <span class=\"nowrap\">by night<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T13:59:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T13:59:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/laurapitcher\">Laura Pitcher<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Working at a mall was once, during peak in-person retail culture at least, a rite of passage. In places where mall culture is alive and well, it still is. There are mall politics \u2013 shops that are more coveted to work in and places in the food court where it\u2019s more popular to eat your lunch. This teenage mall hierarchy is explored in the new American comedy horror film, <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits,<\/span><\/em><span> starring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp and Emma Chamberlain. In it, the actresses play retail workers (who all have fruit names and represent a different season of the retail cycle) who sell overpriced clothes at a boutique in a Dallas shopping mall, Free Eden, by day. At night, they run a witchy femme cult in the basement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The mall in <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits<\/span><\/em><span> is the same one as in the early 2000s classic <\/span><em><span>Mean Girls <\/span><\/em><span>\u2013 there\u2019s even another pivotal scene that takes place at the mall fountain. And, in many ways, <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits <\/span><\/em><span>does have the makings of the quintessential teen comedy that defined the early aughts. Like in <\/span><em><span>Mean Girls<\/span><\/em><span>, here are \u2018rules\u2019 that they have to abide by in order to be in the coven, along with an icy and controlling man-hating ringleader, Apple, who\u2019s played by Reinhart. The film\u2019s stylist, Sarah McMillan, even dressed the girls in classic mall brands, combining designer vintage <\/span><span>with pieces from Hot Topic, American Eagle and Reformation. \u201cAll of it is filtered through the mall,\u201d she says. \u201cThey work in the mall; they\u2019re campy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The magic in <em>Forbidden Fruits<\/em> also harkens back to <em>Jennifer&#8217;s Body<\/em>-style level of teenage camp horror. For example, the girls all wring their their underwear, combined with tears, into a cowboy boot for the new recruit from Sister Salt\u2019s, an unfashionable pretzel shop, Pumpkin (who\u2019s played by Tung), to drink as an initiation. Also, they confess their sins to a changing room mirror and hex people\u2019s boyfriends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"0nyUCq9k7_0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0nyUCq9k7_0\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The film is based on a play by Lily Houghton called \u201cOf the woman came the beginning of sin and through her we all die\u201d. Ultimately, it\u2019s about sisterhood. There\u2019s the obvious biblical Garden of Eden reference, and ties to the mythological figure Lilith throughout, with Apple\u2019s license plate reading \u201c6LILITH6\u201d. In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Lilith began as a winged demon, but medieval Jewish texts reimagined her as Adam\u2019s first wife, one made from the same earth and who refused to be subservient to him. When Lilith left Eden, she was replaced by Eve. More recently, after Lilith was found by the feminists in the 1970s, Lilith has become a symbol of autonomy. Only the so-called \u2018autonomy\u2019 that all the fruits in the film have is still based within the structure of the mall, and entirely dictated by Apple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBeing a witch is being a sister; they\u2019re sort of synonymous,\u201d Meredith Alloway, the director of <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits, <\/span><\/em><span>told Dazed ahead of the f<\/span>ilm\u2019s release at SXSW on March 16<span>. She also called oppression and witchcraft \u201csynonymous\u201d, nodding to the Salem witch trials. \u201cThese women are trying to support each other, but they\u2019re also trying to build a garden in a cement parking lot, a capitalist place.\u201d When asked if Apple is running a coven or a cult, Alloway says it\u2019s up to the audience to decide. In the film, they didn\u2019t set out to focus on labelling what type of witchcraft these women were doing; it was more about the characters\u2019 journeys themselves, and how they relate to one another. But of course, in recent years, especially, the witch has become a powerful feminist figure \u2013 it\u2019s why the phrase \u201cwe are the daughters of the witches you couldn\u2019t burn\u201d often does the rounds on social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Being a witch is being a sister; they\u2019re sort of synonymous. These women are trying to support each other, but they\u2019re also trying to build a garden in a cement parking lot, a capitalist place<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html-embed\">\n<p><span>\u201cWe are living in systems that have oppressed women, and it\u2019s because they are scared of what we can do, particularly when we get together,\u201d says Alloway. \u201cWhen making a film, I need a yearning for an answer and, for this, I think it was really an answer of how women could maybe heal me, and my grief.\u201d Throughout the process, Houghton and Alloway connected over being part of the \u201cdead dads club\u201d, which is something everyone but Fig (played by Victoria Pedretti) connects over in the film. While watching it, you get the sense that these girls could help each other if they were honest with one another. \u201cAll these women are trying to spare people from their own shit, and if they only shared that with each other, I think none of the chaos would ensue,\u201d she says. Yet, the end of <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits does <\/span><\/em><span>get very chaotic, all while never really leaving the mall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Alloway herself has long worn a Lilith signet ring from Awe Inspired, which released <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/aweinspired.com\/collections\/forbidden-fruits\"><span>a collection with the film on March 26<\/span><\/a><span>, which includes a tooth pendant (you\u2019ll get the reference when you watch the movie), poison vial necklace, snake in the garden ring, spiked heart locket and Lilith pendant. The brand\u2019s ethos around the collaboration is perhaps captured best with this: the figures we were taught to fear are often the ones most worth becoming. \u201cI think people connect to Lilith because she was too tempting and had too much power, so they were like \u2018Get her out of here, let\u2019s get Eve in here,\u2019\u201d says Alloway. \u201cWhat does that do to your psyche as a young woman to believe you are the origin of sin? Well, as you get older, you can be like, \u2018That\u2019s so cunty\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Forbidden Fruits <em>is out now. The \u2018Awe x Forbidden Fruits\u2019 collaboration is also <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/aweinspired.com\/collections\/forbidden-fruits\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>available now<\/em><\/span><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<div class=\"article-series\">\n<h4 class=\"heading\">More on these topics<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series\"><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/film\">Film<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/indie-film\">indie film<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/witch\">witch<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/witchcraft\">witchcraft<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/feminism\">Feminism<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp-text-container\">\n<h3 class=\"lava-lamp-subheading\">Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid section-header\">\n<div class=\"section-header__link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70005\/1\/film-tv\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"section-header__title\">READ MORE<\/h2>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid tag-article-list\">\n<div class=\"swiper swiper-latest\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70000\/1\/dj-ahmet-a-coming-of-ager-about-an-edm-obsessed-teen-sheep-farmer\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DJ Ahmet\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/460-0-1863-1239\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442668.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">DJ Ahmet, a coming-of-ager about an EDM-obsessed teen sheep farmer<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69957\/1\/introduction-takashi-miike-japan-cinema-cult-provocateur\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fudoh_30\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/211-0-1467-976\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442330.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Who is Takashi Miike? An intro to Japanese cinema\u2019s cult provocateur<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69880\/1\/troye-sivan-penfolds-paris-fashion-week\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\">Penfolds<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"PENFOLDS_BY_TROYESIVAN_4MARCH-194\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-691-2000-1330\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441970.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Troye Sivan invites us to his Paris Fashion Week launch event<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69958\/1\/the-good-boy-stephen-graham-jan-komasa-kit-rakusen-film-interview-2026\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Good Boy\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/419-152-1520-1011\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442262.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">The Good Boy is a sick, twisted nightmare about delinquent teens<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69952\/1\/arco-a-visually-striking-soul-stirring-science-fantasy-ugo-bienvenu-interview\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Arco\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/213-0-2523-1678\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442132.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Arco, a striking, soul-stirring sci-fi about lonely kids in 2075<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69975\/1\/how-the-dazed-us-team-are-airmaxxing\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\"> Nike <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Isabel\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-82-1080-718\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442393.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">How the Dazed US team are Airmaxxing<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69939\/1\/dead-man-wire-interview-gus-van-sant-bill-skarsgard-luigi-mangione\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dead Man\u2019s Wire (2025)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-2-3000-1995\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442047.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd and Gus Van Sant on their scrappy thriller Dead Man\u2019s Wire<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69930\/1\/anime-legend-mamoru-hosoda-scarlet-hamlet-interview-japan\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Scarlet (2026)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/268-0-1260-838\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441848.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Scarlet: Anime legend Mamoru Hosoda\u2019s trippy new take on Hamlet<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69925\/1\/2026-sxsw-south-by-southwest-film-guide-boots-riley-i-love-boosters-alex-prager\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_FirstLook\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/63-0-1097-730\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441809.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">7 unmissable films from South by Southwest 2026 <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69918\/1\/timothee-chalamet-oscars-fans-backlash-criticism-marty-supreme-press-tour\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Timoth&#233;e Chalamet Oscars\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1024-681\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441743.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Why fans are turning against Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69904\/1\/oscars-2026-nominations-snubs-gwyneth-paltrow-jennifer-lawrence\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marty Supreme, 2025 (Film Still)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-900-598\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441590.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Oscars 2026: The biggest snubs from this year\u2019s nominations<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69907\/1\/2026-oscar-best-casting-is-wildly-overdue-heres-why\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marty Supreme Casting\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/236-216-602-401\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441591.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Casting is finally getting its flowers at the 2026 Oscars<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Working at a mall was once, during peak in-person retail culture at least, a rite of passage. In places where mall culture is alive and well, it still is. There are mall politics \u2013 shops that are more coveted to work in and places in the food court where it\u2019s more popular to eat your lunch. This teenage mall hierarchy is explored in the new American comedy horror film, <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits,<\/span><\/em><span> starring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp and Emma Chamberlain. In it, the actresses play retail workers (who all have fruit names and represent a different season of the retail cycle) who sell overpriced clothes at a boutique in a Dallas shopping mall, Free Eden, by day. At night, they run a witchy femme cult in the basement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The mall in <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits<\/span><\/em><span> is the same one as in the early 2000s classic <\/span><em><span>Mean Girls <\/span><\/em><span>\u2013 there\u2019s even another pivotal scene that takes place at the mall fountain. And, in many ways, <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits <\/span><\/em><span>does have the makings of the quintessential teen comedy that defined the early aughts. Like in <\/span><em><span>Mean Girls<\/span><\/em><span>, here are \u2018rules\u2019 that they have to abide by in order to be in the coven, along with an icy and controlling man-hating ringleader, Apple, who\u2019s played by Reinhart. The film\u2019s stylist, Sarah McMillan, even dressed the girls in classic mall brands, combining designer vintage <\/span><span>with pieces from Hot Topic, American Eagle and Reformation. \u201cAll of it is filtered through the mall,\u201d she says. \u201cThey work in the mall; they\u2019re campy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The magic in <em>Forbidden Fruits<\/em> also harkens back to <em>Jennifer&#8217;s Body<\/em>-style level of teenage camp horror. For example, the girls all wring their their underwear, combined with tears, into a cowboy boot for the new recruit from Sister Salt\u2019s, an unfashionable pretzel shop, Pumpkin (who\u2019s played by Tung), to drink as an initiation. Also, they confess their sins to a changing room mirror and hex people\u2019s boyfriends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"0nyUCq9k7_0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0nyUCq9k7_0\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The film is based on a play by Lily Houghton called \u201cOf the woman came the beginning of sin and through her we all die\u201d. Ultimately, it\u2019s about sisterhood. There\u2019s the obvious biblical Garden of Eden reference, and ties to the mythological figure Lilith throughout, with Apple\u2019s license plate reading \u201c6LILITH6\u201d. In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Lilith began as a winged demon, but medieval Jewish texts reimagined her as Adam\u2019s first wife, one made from the same earth and who refused to be subservient to him. When Lilith left Eden, she was replaced by Eve. More recently, after Lilith was found by the feminists in the 1970s, Lilith has become a symbol of autonomy. Only the so-called \u2018autonomy\u2019 that all the fruits in the film have is still based within the structure of the mall, and entirely dictated by Apple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBeing a witch is being a sister; they\u2019re sort of synonymous,\u201d Meredith Alloway, the director of <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits, <\/span><\/em><span>told Dazed ahead of the f<\/span>ilm\u2019s release at SXSW on March 16<span>. She also called oppression and witchcraft \u201csynonymous\u201d, nodding to the Salem witch trials. \u201cThese women are trying to support each other, but they\u2019re also trying to build a garden in a cement parking lot, a capitalist place.\u201d When asked if Apple is running a coven or a cult, Alloway says it\u2019s up to the audience to decide. In the film, they didn\u2019t set out to focus on labelling what type of witchcraft these women were doing; it was more about the characters\u2019 journeys themselves, and how they relate to one another. But of course, in recent years, especially, the witch has become a powerful feminist figure \u2013 it\u2019s why the phrase \u201cwe are the daughters of the witches you couldn\u2019t burn\u201d often does the rounds on social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Being a witch is being a sister; they\u2019re sort of synonymous. These women are trying to support each other, but they\u2019re also trying to build a garden in a cement parking lot, a capitalist place<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html-embed\">\n<p><span>\u201cWe are living in systems that have oppressed women, and it\u2019s because they are scared of what we can do, particularly when we get together,\u201d says Alloway. \u201cWhen making a film, I need a yearning for an answer and, for this, I think it was really an answer of how women could maybe heal me, and my grief.\u201d Throughout the process, Houghton and Alloway connected over being part of the \u201cdead dads club\u201d, which is something everyone but Fig (played by Victoria Pedretti) connects over in the film. While watching it, you get the sense that these girls could help each other if they were honest with one another. \u201cAll these women are trying to spare people from their own shit, and if they only shared that with each other, I think none of the chaos would ensue,\u201d she says. Yet, the end of <\/span><em><span>Forbidden Fruits does <\/span><\/em><span>get very chaotic, all while never really leaving the mall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Alloway herself has long worn a Lilith signet ring from Awe Inspired, which released <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/aweinspired.com\/collections\/forbidden-fruits\"><span>a collection with the film on March 26<\/span><\/a><span>, which includes a tooth pendant (you\u2019ll get the reference when you watch the movie), poison vial necklace, snake in the garden ring, spiked heart locket and Lilith pendant. The brand\u2019s ethos around the collaboration is perhaps captured best with this: the figures we were taught to fear are often the ones most worth becoming. \u201cI think people connect to Lilith because she was too tempting and had too much power, so they were like \u2018Get her out of here, let\u2019s get Eve in here,\u2019\u201d says Alloway. \u201cWhat does that do to your psyche as a young woman to believe you are the origin of sin? Well, as you get older, you can be like, \u2018That\u2019s so cunty\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Forbidden Fruits <em>is out now. The \u2018Awe x Forbidden Fruits\u2019 collaboration is also <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/aweinspired.com\/collections\/forbidden-fruits\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>available now<\/em><\/span><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70005\/1\/forbidden-fruits-film-meredith-alloway-interview-2026&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/864\/78-0-864-576\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442692.jpg&#8221;] Forbidden Fruits March\u00a0 27,\u00a0 2026 Film &amp; TV \/ Feature Film &amp; TV \/ Feature 6LILITH6: Inside the witchy femme mall cult of Forbidden Fruits The new horror-comedy, featuring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti and Alexandra Shipp, follows a group of women who are mall workers by day \u2013 and witchy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1850810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}