''Cherrybomb'' is a 2009 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Lisa Barros D'Sa Lisa Barros D'Sa is a film director, writer and producer. Barros D'Sa studied English at University of Oxford and holds an MA in Screenwriting from London University of the Arts. Born in Belfast, she is best known for co-directing and producin ...

and Glenn Leyburn. It stars

Rupert Grint Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (; born 24 August 1988) is an English actor. Grint rose to fame for his role as Ron Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, for which he was cast at age eleven, having previously acted only in school plays an ...

Kimberley Nixon Kimberley Nixon (born 24 September 1985) is a Welsh actor, actress. Nixon is known for her role as Sophy Hutton in the BBC One period drama ''Cranford (TV series), Cranford'', and appearances in various films such as ''Wild Child (film), Wild C ...

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...

and

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...

. Filming began on location in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

on 7 July 2008, and lasted four weeks. The film includes nudity, drinking, drugs, shop-lifting and car theft. It was released to DVD on 23 August 2010 in the United Kingdom. It premiered in the United States in September 2009 at the Los Angeles Irish Film Festival. The film's theme song is "

Cherry Bomb A cherry bomb (also known as a globe salute or kraft salute) is an approximately spherical exploding firework, roughly resembling a cherry in size and shape (with the fuse resembling the cherry's stem). Cherry bombs range in size from in diame ...

" by

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...

. ''Cherrybomb'' premiered at the 2009

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, but was initially unable to find a distributor. An online campaign by Grint's fans was credited with helping to secure a deal for distribution in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Malachy McKinny is a straight-A teenager working at the Titanic Leisureplex, a sports training complex owned and run by Dave. His best friend is Luke, a drug dealer living with his drug-addicted father. The two boys find themselves entranced by Michelle, a beautiful and charismatic teen who has just moved from London to live with her father, Dave. Luke and Malachy attempt to win Michelle's affections by outdoing each other on a wild ride of sex, drugs, vandalism, shoplifting, and fighting. However, all three teens find that they are in over their heads when they throw a party in the Titanic Leisureplex, which turns disastrous when Dave walks in to find his place trashed. Blaming Malachy, he almost beats him to death. Malachy is saved by Luke, who smacks Dave over the head with a pole. Stunned, Dave slowly turns to look at Luke, and receives a second blow to the head. While Malachy is covered in blood and bruises, he gets up and tells Luke that he does not want to leave, since Michelle is grieving for her dead father. Luke, being a "supportive" friend, stays with Malachy until the paramedics and police show up and take them in for questioning. The ending of the film turns out to be the opening sequence to the film. Although we only see bits and pieces of the ending interrogation, the audience gets to hear of Malachy's and Luke's final words on the incident before the film cuts out.

Cast

as Malachy McKinney *

as Luke *

as Michelle *

as Dave, Michelle's father * Niamh Quinn as Donna *

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and great pow ...

as Chris *

Conor MacNeill Conor MacNeill (born 4 July 1988) is a film, television, and stage actor from Northern Ireland. Biography MacNeill was born in West Belfast and has appeared in such films as ''Fifty Dead Men Walking'' and ''Peacefire'' directed by Macdara Valle ...

as Fanta * Greer Ellison as Bun * Kat Kirk as Sharon *

Kathy Kiera Clarke Kathy Kiera Clarke (possibly Keira) is a Northern Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Aunt Sarah in ''Derry Girls''. Career Film and television Clarke's first television role was as Bernadette Brennan in '' Head over Heels'' in ...

as Emma *

Lalor Roddy Lalor Roddy (born 30 November 1954) is a Northern Irish actor, described by the ''Irish Times'' theater critic Fintan O'Toole as "surely the finest Irish actor of his generation". Youth Roddy was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In ...

as Smiley * Paul Garrett as Bob * Paul Caddell as Swimming Instructor *

Richard Orr Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

as Uncle Joe * Bronach Lawlor as Jessica * Maggie Hayes as Aunt Maggie

Reception

, the film holds a 42% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on twelve reviews with an average rating of 4.67/10.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherrybomb 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2009 independent films 2000s teen drama films 2009 films British coming-of-age drama films British independent films British teen drama films English-language Irish films Films about drugs Films set in Northern Ireland Films shot in Northern Ireland Irish coming-of-age drama films Irish independent films Irish teen drama films Northern Irish films 2009 directorial debut films 2009 drama films Films scored by David Holmes (musician) Films directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn 2000s English-language films 2000s British films