Brand New Cherry Flavor Review: A Magical And Lysergic Hollywood On Netflix Ending Explained

As we will learn more in the course of our review of Brand New Cherry Flavor, we are surprised to find such an atypical and arty work in the Netflix catalog. In this eight-episode miniseries, Nick Antosca and Leonore Zion, among the authors of Channel Zero and The Act, will catapult us into an esoteric and acid-free tale, set in a Hollywood of the 90s. A place of perdition and redemption, Hollywood is transformed into an environment far from the star system and glamor to embrace a darker, mysterious and magical dimension. Trying to get rid of the pre-established canon, Brand New Cherry Flavor is an atypical, strange and alienating product, which will surely divide its audience.

Brand New Cherry Flavor Review The Way To Success

Lisa Nova is an aspiring director who is heading to Hollywood. Famous Oscar-winning producer Lou Burke saw her experimental short, Lucy’s Eye, was completely blown away by the young director’s talent and wants to make a feature film out of it. Although Lisa is homeless and penniless, the meeting seems to turn in her favor. Lou begins to insert her into the environment that matters, introduces her to some of the most important personalities and becomes a mentor to help her grow. Until he can hide his predatory side. Lisa’s refusal to Lou’s sexual advances changes the producer’s behavior towards the protagonist: he takes her away from the film and excludes her from the “tour”. Desperate and angry, Lisa meets Boro, a mysterious sorceress who promises to give her all the tools necessary to be able to take revenge on Lou and take back the film that has been taken from her. It will be the beginning of a series of magical rituals, mysterious supernatural presences that will begin to haunt the protagonist, confusing realities and a lot of shed blood. In this miniseries, Hollywood becomes a jungle of power, where there is esotericism capable of shaping reality, where the dream of success quickly turns into a nightmare.

The Demon At Mulholland Drive

From the very beginning series you can see the models that inspired Brand New Cherry Flavor, the first more conceptual and in the narrative plot, the other in the photographic choice. The strongest appeal is that of David Lynch and his three films in particular: Strade Perdute (in which the famous subjective one is immediately replicated while driving in a night street), Mulholland Drive, in the way in which the research is staged of success in the Hollywood system, and Twin Peaks, for the inexplicable alchemy between reality and the paranormal. The second cinema honored is that of Nicolas Winding Refn: these eight episodes are often illuminated in neon, with a fairly relaxed rhythm that recalls the neo-noir atmospheres of the Danish director.

It does not surprise us, therefore, that it is a product capable of dividing its audience, between those who adore this dreamlike and unreal atmosphere and those who, on the other hand, will find it very difficult to suspend the incredulity of the events. Because, in accumulating situations bordering on the absurd, between bites of spiders capable of causing a perennial erection and hallucinated dialogues spoken by over-the-top characters, Brand New Cherry Flavor chooses the darkest and most mysterious path: that of not wanting to please everyone, to quickly remove the public and take a more arthouse path. The Netflix miniseries is so inspired by its fathers that it is, in the long run, far too derivative and unable to create a truly new, truly original voice. Both in the staging of the surreal plants (too similar to those seen on Twin Peaks – The Return) and in the colorful iconography (some sequences seem to derive directly from The Neon Demon and Too Old to Die Young), Brand New Cherry Flavor, once tasted, it does not confirm the innovative, albeit tasty, flavor of the title.

Look Towards The Destination

If it is true that the journey and not the destination counts, it is equally true that the point of arrival, especially in narrative works that seem to point in a precise direction, needs a certain amount of importance. Brand New Cherry Flavor starts in a fascinating way, managing to find a more than pleasant balance between its parts. As we proceed with the episodes, however, the premises seem increasingly distant from being fulfilled, until we reach a conclusion that appears hasty, a little too simple and not entirely satisfying. Suffocated in wanting to create a precise metaphor, the miniseries accumulates too many elements without presenting satisfactory solutions. The charm of a story remains, that of Lisa, which ends, while the Hollywood dream machine (or perhaps we should say nightmares) will continue undaunted, but when you reach the end credits for the last time, you have the feeling of having seen a product that is not entirely cohesive and centered, albeit at times pleasantly disturbing, mysterious, lysergic and elusive. We want to focus on the gaze because, preferring the visual and aesthetic imprint to the narrative one (and basing some key moments on the eye), there could not be a better protagonist thanRosa Salazar, with her huge eyes that seem to live, together with the viewer, the wonder and terror she will experience. The actress has a talent that captures the viewer, the main gem of a cast that works, with Eric Lange and Catherine Keener, perfect co-stars.

Brand New Cherry Flavor Review The Last Words

We conclude our review of Brand New Cherry Flavor wanting to reward at least the courage of such an arty miniseries and strange present in the Netflix catalog. With some disturbing moments and a good dose of violence, the eight-episode miniseries is a fascinating and elusive product that doesn’t always hit the mark and is inspired by the works of David Lynch and Nicolas Winding Refn. More than reinterpreting the models, however, he tries to imitate the style, a result that is a little too derivative and not entirely exciting. The imperfect finish is the icing on the cake, with a not exactly new flavor, of a product destined to make people discuss and divide their audience. The cast holds up all the estrangement and absurdity of the story (a bit stifled by the metaphor), especially Rosa Salazar, a very talented actress who knows how to attract the viewer’s attention and gaze, encouraging him to get to the end.

What We Liked About Series

• Brave, disturbing, alienating: the Netflix miniseries is a white fly in the catalog of the platform.
• Although in a fluctuating way, the story is full of charm in showing (and forcing us to watch) an esoteric and lysergic Hollywood.
• Rosa Salazar is simply perfect, the first actress of a cast that works.

What We Disliked About Series

• The reference models (Lynch and Refn) are far too bulky and there is often the feeling of imitation rather than reinterpretation.
• The series does not always know how to involve the best and, thanks to an ending that appears hasty, it will surely divide the public who may also be considered dissatisfied with the premises.