Netflix's horror/drama show, Brand New Cherry Flavor, has TikTok users challenging one another to document their reactions to its bizarre sex scene. Set in the 1990s, Brand New Cherry Flavor tracks the journey of its protagonist, Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar), who moves to the Los Angeles only to find that the City of Dreams is full of horrors. The series based on a novel by the same name written by Todd Grimson. Lead actor Salazar has been on the rise ever since her starring role in Alita: Battle Angel and in Amazon's animated series Undone.
In Brand New Chery Flavor, Lisa is wronged by the predatory Lou Burke (Eric Lange), and exacts her revenge via the intervention of a creepy occult-empowered figure, Boro (Catherine Keener). The show then descends into unpredictable chaos as, for instance, newborn kittens mysteriously start appearing from unexpected places in a distinctive display of visceral body horror. In episode 4, "Tadpole Smoothie," one particular sex scene has gained a lot of attention for its incorporation of this element. The scene in question features Lisa's kitten-producing wound, which becomes directly involved in her sexual encounter with Roy Hardaway (Jeff Ward). Naturally, the scene garnered some very strong reactions from viewers.
Now, some Brand New Cherry Flavor viewers have taken to social media with their reactions to this disturbing sequence (via Decider). In a new TikTok trend, users are even challenging each other to watch the scene and recording themselves reacting. Overall, the reactions are universal in their shock, with one Twitter user saying she was "flabbergasted," while another recommended only watching the scene "if [you're] brave."
It is in some ways ironic that Brand New Cherry Flavor has sparked such a strong online reaction, and even a social media viral trend. In a previous exclusive interview with Screen Rant, show creators Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion revealed that they specifically wanted to maintain the 90s setting of the original novel on which the show is based to avoid social media usage, saying, "We didn't want to have screens and TikTok or whatever." Now, however, the show's bizarre sex scene has become the point of intense online scrutiny.
The reactions to the Brand New Cherry Flavor episode 4 sex scene are understandable. Testing the limits of what many viewers are able to stomach in terms of body horror, the sequence is indeed a bizarre and unique one. However, the show has certainly managed to gain itself some more attention, and may see an uptick in viewers as a result. Whether this particularly scene is the strangest that the Brand New Cherry Flavor creators plan on attempting to one-up themselves in terms of horrifying Netflix audiences in future episodes, however, remains to be seen.
Source: Decider
