COCOA

Name: COCOA
Item: COCOA
Author: Lillie Jaenchen

"Quirky Comedy"

Content: +1 Moderately questionable elements. (Discernment required for young children.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

COCOA is a quirky comedy on Amazon Prime. Sisters Faith and Hope try to overcome their financial woes by inventing a gluten-free chocolate cake that helps people lose weight. Meanwhile, a young man tries to get into the “family business” with the local Mafia boss and decides to steal the cake recipe. A dog dies and a suitcase is stolen. Chaos ensues. Will the sisters overcome the odds stacked against them?

COCOA has a strong Christian, moral worldview that celebrates family, faith, forgiveness, and perseverance. Bible verses and a sign reading, “Jesus Saves,” appear during the movie. Also, characters discover family is more important than money, fame or popularity. Characters are encouraged to overcome difficulties by working together. However, in a moment of frustration, a character feels like she’s losing her faith, but she continues to believe. Occasionally, a character speaks, but the mouth doesn’t move. Also, some sound effects don’t match the visuals, pulling viewers out of the story. Also, COCOA has some superstitious comments about the “life force” and threats of violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

Content:

(CC, BB, Pa, FR, L, V, S, N, A, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong Christian, moral worldview includes signs with Bible verses and ne saying, “Jesus saves,” characters go to church, a character mentions keeping the faith, two characters are named Faith and Hope, one character gives a crucifix and a picture of Jesus as a gift, the movie encourages helping others and working together as a family, movie shows it doesn’t pay to steal, but a scientist develops a “life force” that eventually brings a dog back to life, adding an unfortunate superstitious element

Foul Language:

One use of “Geeze,” and characters frequently say, “Oh crap”

Violence:

Sisters playfully hit each other, a group of older women attacks a man with their purses, police chief pulls a gun on a character, another character pulls a gun on one of the main characters and the police chief pulls her gun on him as well, a man has some blood on his lip after an altercation, woman slips on some wine that looks like a pool of blood, and man threatens to shoot a woman

Sex:

No sex scenes, but one character thinks his wife is having an affair even though she’s not, and the main character is in the middle of a divorce, which ends up going through legally

Nudity:

Slight upper male nudity, but the character is mostly covered

Alcohol Use:

Characters have wine at a party and some scenes take place in a restaurant with a bar where characters have alcohol

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs, but one character has had hand surgery and pops several prescription pain pills; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Strong miscellaneous immorality such as characters frequently respond with sarcasm, sisters tease and fight with each other, characters lie about getting a patent for their recipe, a character steals a secret recipe, another character steals a suitcase, a woman’s phone is stolen, a journalist purposely embellishes a story without knowing all the facts, a woman throws a tantrum after being out all night and not having any breakfast, and a Mafia boss threatens violence if a man doesn’t sign divorce papers.

More Detail:

COCOA is a quirky comedy with a creative story full of unexpected plot twists about two sisters trying to escape financial ruin by creating a chocolate cake that makes people lose weight. The production in COCOA falters in some places, taking viewers out of the story, but the movie has a satisfying ending and a strong Christian, moral worldview celebrating family, faith, forgiveness, and perseverance.

The movie begins with sisters Faith and Hope wildly driving to Faith’s meeting with her divorce attorney and husband. At the meeting, Faith learns she’s penniless and her car is being repossessed. Hope unexpectedly quits her dead-end job, and all hope seems lost. In their distress, they attend a church service, and “Jesus Loves Me” is heard in the background.

The movie jumps to Lucas, a young man who wants to get into the “family business” with the local Mafia boss, Carmine Frangiolini. Carmine demands that Lucas bring him a profitable business idea.

Meanwhile, Faith and Hope create a gluten-free chocolate cake that makes people lose weight. To escape financial ruin, they decide to look for investors, and some family friends, the Chapmans, let them use their house to meet with the wealthy Jacqueline Blackholly. Lucas attends the meeting as Mrs. Blackholly’s assistant and steals the recipe to please Carmine. A masked man lurks outside, and the Chapman’s dog Cocoa eats the chocolate cake, forcing the sisters to take him to the vet.

The vet, Dr. Dogwood, is trying to create the “life force” and experiments on Cocoa. Cocoa dies, and the sisters share the sad news with the Chapmans, who ask them to bring the dog to them in a suitcase.

Chaos ensues as the sisters try to bring the dog to the Chapmans. They miss their train, Faith’s phone is stolen, a thief steals the suitcase containing Cocoa, and the cops laugh the sisters off when they report the robberies. The action reaches its climax when Lucas threatens to shoot Faith if they don’t reveal the secret ingredient for their cake.

Though the story is creative and unexpected, the production sometimes falters. Occasionally, a character speaks, but his or her mouth doesn’t move. Also, some sound effects don’t match the visuals, pulling viewers out of the story. However, the movie’s ending is satisfying, filming the movie on location enhances the story, and the bright colors and detailed sets create visual interest.

COCOA also has a strong Christian, moral worldview that celebrates family, faith, forgiveness, and perseverance. Bible verses and a sign reading, “Jesus Saves,” appear during the movie. Also, characters discover family is more important to them than money, fame or popularity. Characters are also encouraged to overcome difficulties by working together. However, in a moment of frustration, a character feels like she’s losing her faith, but she continues to believe. Also, COCOA has some superstitious comments about the “life force” and threats of violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

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What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.