"Vonnegut wrote we are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful about what we pretend to be ," is the opening line from the film "American Cherry," spoken in a raw, hushed, trembling voice-over by its main character, Finn Elliott. Finn is played by Hart Denton, probably best known as playing one of the major antagonists in the CW s long running show "Riverdale." Finn is a peculiar teenager; he has a strained relationship with his parents, and aggressive antisocial tendencies tied into an undefined mental disorder. When he finally finds a person that he can love, he has difficulties keeping the happier side of his brain turned on as his darker personality slowly fights its way back to the surface.
In “American Cherry,” the typical coming-of-age story takes a dark twist as the protagonists’ growing romance is distorted into something more sinister, and ultimately deadly.