James Franco and Heather Graham‘s love for films about porn continues, after the latter starring in Boogie Nights and the former portraying Hugh Hefner in the upcoming Lovelace. They both have supporting roles in Cherry, which just got a premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The debut drama from Stephen Elliot and co-written by porn actress and NYU graduate Lorelei Lee, the cast also includes Ashley Hinshaw (Chronicle), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) and Lili Taylor.
Getting mediocre reviews out of the festival last week, we have debut trailer today. Elliot looks to be doing little to hide the low-budget aesthetic with poor cinematography, but I’m interested to see a film like this from the point of view of someone in the industry. With Boogie Nights setting such a standard for this kind of story, it is difficult to see how any other could live up. But why not make it a triple feature with the two upcoming Linda Lovelace biopics? Check out the trailer below.
Synopsis:
Cherry is about Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw), an 18-year-old girl on the verge of finishing high school. Angelina’s family life is difficult. Her mother (Lili Taylor) is an alcoholic and her step-father is violent and unpredictable. One morning her boyfriend (Jonny Weston) suggests she take naked pictures for money. She balks at first but then does the photo shoot, using the money to run-off with her best friend (Dev Patel) to San Francisco. In San Francisco, while cocktailing in a strip club, Angelina meets Frances (James Franco) a well-off lawyer who offers to introduce her to a different kind of world, a place full of expensive dresses and fancy parties. But that world is not as perfect as it first appears and Frances has problems of his own. At the same time Angelina, using the moniker Cherry, has begun exploring the San Francisco porn industry under the direction of Margaret (Heather Graham) a former performer turned adult film director.
Cherry premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and has yet to find US distribution.