Cherrybomb

"So what are we talking about here? A threeway?"
—Luke

Cherrybomb is a 2010 movie which follows the lives of three teens as they embark on a weekend of sex, drugs and debauchery, with disastrous consequences.

Irish teenager Malachy (played by Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame), a hardworking straight-A student who feels stifled by his safe, suburban life, becomes infatuated with his Boss' daughter, the beautiful but manipulative Michelle (Kimberly Nixon). Unfortunately, things start to spiral out of control when Malachy's rebellious best mate Luke (Robert Sheehan) also falls for Michelle's charms, and the two boys find their friendship starting to crumble as she encourages them to carry out ever more dangerous acts in their quest to win her affections.

Despite this movie ostensibly dealing with a Love Triangle, it has been noted by critics, fans, and even cast members that it does contain a certain homoerotic subtext. Lets just say that it has amassed a small but dedicated following of Yaoi fangirls, and leave it at that.

Tropes used in Cherrybomb include:
  • Alcoholic Parent: Luke's pathetic, suicidal father is a particularly heartbreaking depiction.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played with. Michelle spurs on the boys' rebellious behaviour, but later rejects the "bad boy" Luke in favour of the more safe, dependable Malachy.
  • Almost Kiss: Rupert Grint commented in an interview that Luke and Malachy got very close to kissing each other in one scene. It didn't go unnoticed by the Yaoi Fangirls either.
  • Betty and Veronica: Genderswapped with Michelle as the "Archie", having to choose between the male "Betty" (Malachy) and "Veronica" (Luke).
  • Binge Montage: The trailer alone...
  • Broken Bird: Michelle can be interpreted as this.
  • Calling the Old Man Out
  • Coming of Age Story
  • Dawson Casting
  • Doting Parents: Malachy's family are extremely supportive and proud of him, to the point where he feels stifled by them, in stark contrast to Michelle's uncaring father, and Luke's nightmarish home life.
  • Domestic Abuse
  • Downer Ending
  • Ephebophile: It turns out that Crilly (Michelle's dad) is sleeping with Donna, his daughter's sixteen-year-old friend.
  • Fake Irish: The English Rupert Grint and Welsh Kimberly Nixon play Irish characters. Averted with most of the rest of the cast, including Robert Sheehan and James Nesbitt.
  • Fille Fatale: Michelle.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Luke really seems to resent the blossoming relationship between Malachy and Michelle.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Luke and Malachy. Although there has been some debate as to whether their relationship is 100% platonic.
  • Love Triangle
  • Meaningful Name: Luke ("Lock") and Malachy ("Key"). The pair of them also wear lock and key necklaces. Whatever the intended symbolism of this, there is only one inevitable meaning read into it...
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: During the film's crescendo, Crilly beats Malachy to a bloody pulp. Luke then does the same thing to Crilly, killing him.
  • Odd Couple: Luke and Malachy, in many respects. Malachy is shy, studious, hard-working and comes from a comfortable middle-class family, whereas Luke is a brash, streetwise drug-dealer with no prospects and a horribly dysfunctional home life. It becomes apparent, however, that Luke represents the freedom and confidence that Malachy craves and that he in turn offers Luke some sense of stability.
  • Parental Abandonment: Michelle's estranged parents basically ferry her back and forth between Belfast and London because neither of them can be bothered to look after her. Luke's situation is even more severe - he has no mother, and his dad eventually leaves town and abandons him entirely.
  • Playing Against Type: Rupert "Harry Potter's Bumbling Sidekick" Grint as Malachy. Not that this is his first role outside of Harry Potter, or even that Malachy is an out-and-out hellraiser (he's the most stable and grounded of the three protagonists at least). But it's definitely a new direction for him.
  • Pretty Boy: Luke.
  • Spoiler Opening: The first scene in the movie drops some very heavy hints about the conclusion.
  • Too Much Information: This piece of dialogue:

Malachy: I don't kiss and tell.
Luke: Come on man I tell you everything. I told you the time Kelly Shiels stuck her finger up my arse...
Malachy: Yes and I did not wish to know that.

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