About Cherry

Angelina is an eighteen-year-old juggling school, a dead-end job, and an unstable home life. She cleans up after an alcoholic mother and shields her younger sister from a menacing stepfather. When she hatches a plan to escape to San Francisco with her best friend Andrew, reality shifts in unexpected ways. In the city she begins a fragile romance with a cocaine-addicted attorney and enters the tight-knit world of the porn industry. Her mentor, a director named Margaret, hints at a personal interest beyond mentorship, pulling Angelina deeper into a world she's only begun to glimpse. The path to independence is rough, and every choice carries a price. The film treats sex and desire as dangerous, thrilling forces.

Directed by Stephen Elliott and Lorelei Lee, the film is based on Stephen Elliott's memoir About Cherry. Made on a 2.5 million budget, it prominently stars Ashley Hinshaw as Angelina and Dev Patel as Andrew, with Lili Taylor as Phyllis.

Critics were mixed, praising Hinshaw's unguarded performance and the film's blunt look at exploitation, power, and survival. Some found the pacing uneven, yet the intimate tone keeps the focus on Angelina's fragile sense of agency. The surroundings feel claustrophobic yet real, with cinematography and a score that underscores personal stakes.

In indie circles the film left a small but noted mark for its bold subject matter and Hinshaw's breakout turn. It sparked conversations about consent and sexuality in independent cinema and has been discussed in forums and film studies courses as a case study of representation in sex work narratives.