After hitting it big in the MCU, the Russo brothers (Anthony and Joe) and Tom Holland team up for a very different collaboration. Cherry is a semi-autobiographical take on Nico Walker’s life. The film is divided into seven separate chapters and follows a fictional interpretation of Walker called Cherry.
The film tells the story of a young man before, during, and after he experiences life as an army medic. He meets the love of his life Emily (Ciara Bravo) in a college English class. The couple goes through a rough patch, leading to Cherry dropping out of school and enlisting in the Army. However, the two reconcile and marry before he leaves for basic training.
After serving in Iraq for two years, Cherry returns home with symptoms of PTSD — he has trouble sleeping, and when he does, he dreams about the horrors he saw. He has negative outlooks on his life, expressing suicidal thoughts to a therapist. This therapist, Dr. Whomever (Thomas Lennon), prescribes Cherry with OxyContin to help him and hopefully decrease his PTSD. Unfortunately, Cherry abuses the medication. Emily feels helpless, not knowing how she can help her husband. In a disheartening turn of events, Emily begins using the drug as well, and the two become addicts. Eventually, this leads them towards a full-blown heroin addiction.