Image Credit: ‘Fallen Fruit,’ Mango Sun Productions
For many queer individuals, the notion of “home” often conjures images of a place to escape, a springboard from which to launch into adulthood and find community elsewhere. It’s almost a given that the first chance we get, we’ll pack our bags and seek a life far removed from our childhood towns.
But what if that narrative isn’t the whole story? What if, in our haste to flee, we were also running from aspects of ourselves?
Fallen Fruit: A Homecoming Story
These poignant questions lie at the heart of Fallen Fruit, a captivating new micro-budget indie drama from filmmaker Chris Molina. This film delves into themes of loneliness, desire, the fear of failure, and the tumultuous journey of young adulthood, reports Queerty, exclusively
The story follows twenty-something Alex (Ramiro Batista) who, reeling from a recent breakup, trades the bustling streets of New York City for his childhood home in Miami. Not exactly thrilled to return to a bedroom now serving as his mom’s storage closet, Alex is convinced his stay is temporary and he’ll be back in NYC by summer’s end. Life, however, often has other plans.
Aimless, Alex begins to document his “flop era” with an old-school camcorder he unearths at home. He also takes on a counseling job at a summer camp run by his longtime best friend’s mother, a role he’s less than enthusiastic about.
Unexpected Connections and New Perspectives
Everything shifts when Alex meets Chris (Austin Cassel), a charming connection who helps him see his surroundings in a new light. What starts as a casual hookup blossoms into something deeper, and through Chris’s eyes, Alex begins to realize that Miami might just have more to offer than he ever imagined.
Inspired by Personal Experience
Fallen Fruit is deeply personal for writer-director Chris Molina, drawing inspiration from his own experience of returning to Miami at 19 after a bad breakup and dropping out of college. He, too, found himself confronting the parts of the city he once sought to escape: the relentless humidity, the notorious traffic, and even the ubiquitous iguanas.
Molina shares in a director’s statement, “Learning to love where you’re from and appreciate all the things it’s given you is, as I’ve learned recently, a rite of passage into adulthood. We shed the veneer of trying to act too cool and somehow begin to appreciate the things we learned to hate.”
Catch Fallen Fruit This Pride Month
Just in time for Pride Month, Fallen Fruitis embarking on its indie theater tour. The film will play at the historic Roxy Cinema in NYC on June 14(with Molina in attendance for a Q&A), followed by a run at the Coral Gables Art Cinema in Miami beginning June 27. For the latest updates on screenings in your city, be sure to follow Fallen Fruit’s website and Instagram page.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
