War is not kind to anyone and those who have suffered battle rarely can escape it wholly. Written by Nico Walker and based on his life, Cherry (Tom Holland) is the story of one army medic whose life is not the same after a tour in Iraq. His story begins in a happy place where he has joined a college and met the love of his life, Emily (Ciara Bravo). In his spare time, he is hanging out with his friends and dealing with day to day problems. When he professes his love to Emily and she talks about moving to Canada, Cherry decides to enlist in the army. While Emily changes her mind, it is too late for Cherry and both their lives are now changed forever.
Cherry shows the uglier side of PTSD
We have seen a lot of movies where PTSD is addressed but it is something that the protagonist usually overcomes in a brief moment of bravery. Sadly, that is not how it happens in real life and this movie pulls no punches in letting you know that. We don’t only see Cherry suffer from nightmares but we also see the nightmares. We experience the high when he gets addicted to opioids to battle his PTSD.
Tom Holland’s exceptional performance hits the message home
Cherry is a Tom Holland show. Not only we see him aging on screen but we see him going through life-changing experiences one after the other. Ciara Bravo as Emily is also exceptional and it is wonderful to see the pair together on screen. The movie is through Cherry’s perspective so it has moments where you would see stuff like Sgt. Whomever and No Credit Bank, which makes the movie break the fourth wall and at the same time interesting.
The length of the movie could be shorter
At about two hours long, the movie feels stretched at certain points. While it is essential to see the stages of Cherry’s life, there are a lot of moments that were repetitive and could have been edited. But these moments don’t take anything away from the entire experience.
WATCH OR NOT:
Anthony and Joe Russo know how to make a crime drama and they have delivered an exceptional movie. If you are looking for something new and thought-provoking this weekend, you should not miss Cherry.
