Forbidden Fruits Trailer Drops Ahead of SXSW World Premiere

Lili Reinhart leads a mall-floor witch cult in IFC’s stylish horror satire Forbidden Fruits.

If you were to take the glossy mall-core of Clueless, fuse it with the spellbound rebellion of The Craft, and sprinkle in a little Mean Girls venom for good measure, you might end up somewhere close to Forbidden Fruits.

The new genre-bending teen horror satire from writer-director Meredith Alloway is set to world premiere at South by Southwest on March 17, 2026, before heading into theaters nationwide March 27 via IFC. And based on the newly dropped trailer, this one isn’t just serving looks — it’s serving blood.

Starring Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Chamberlain, and Gabrielle Union, Forbidden Fruits follows three ultra-polished mall employees — Apple, Cherry and Fig — who secretly run a witchy femme cult in the basement of their retail kingdom after hours. By day, they’re the hottest things on the sales floor. By night, they’re curating rituals, power plays, and what looks like a very curated brand of sisterhood.

But when new hire Pumpkin enters the orbit, the performative unity begins to crack. What initially plays like a hyper-stylized Galentine’s fever dream slowly reveals something darker underneath. The trailer teases cult dynamics, aesthetic obsession, influencer-era empowerment, and the very real poison that can fester inside curated female friendships.

Alloway, who co-wrote the film with Lily Houghton, leans hard into that neon, pastel-coated irony. There’s a knowing wink in the tone — but also an undercurrent of menace. The Eden “family” branding extends beyond the film itself, with IFC launching an in-world viral campaign encouraging viewers to apply to join the Free Eden family or shop the fictional store’s site. It’s playful marketing, but it mirrors the film’s core question: When empowerment becomes performance, who’s really in control?

At first glance, this might look like just another glossy teen genre remix. But there’s something sharper lurking beneath the glitter. The cult element feels less like shock value and more like commentary — on identity, loyalty, aesthetic capitalism and the transactional nature of modern belonging.

The big test will be balance. Can Forbidden Fruits maintain its tonal juggling act between satire, horror and social commentary without losing its bite? The trailer suggests it might. There’s energy here. There’s style. And if the witchcraft lands with weight, this could easily become a festival crowd favorite.

We’ll be on the ground at SXSW when the Eden doors open. Until then, grab your gals, watch the trailer, and decide whether you’re ready to join the family — or question what they’re really selling.