Fresh (2022)

By: Mike Ward on Monday, March 07

R Running Time: 114 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • A striking debut from director Mimi Cave, Fresh is a film that has a lot to say and a wicked way of going about it. It is indeed a bummer that Searchlight Pictures did not give this a chance to gain an audience in theaters.

  • Not for the squeamish, Fresh is something I had a lot of fun with.

  • Great performances from Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan help make Fresh far more fun than it probably has any right to be. I had a ball with this clever little movie.

NO

  • For some, this may be too on-the-nose with its overall messages and be far too outlandish to truly suspend one’s disbelief.

  • Some men are going to watch this and feel attacked.

  • May bite off a bit more than it can chew with everything the film tries to tackle in its comedic horror presentation.


OUR REVIEW

I’m not entirely sure why Mimi Cave’s Fresh never got its chance to play for a few weeks at the multiplex. Perhaps it’s off-kilter R-rated horror story was deemed not able to compete with the big blockbuster movies people gravitate towards nowadays. However, with some of the surprises and shocks Cave’s feature film debut delivers, Fresh would have absolutely been a lot of fun to see with an unsuspecting audience.

Instead, Searchlight Pictures made the call to send the film directly to Hulu (and Disney+ outside the United States) and bypass the theatrical experience altogether. Honestly, that’s a bummer.

Imagine the surprise a packed house would have when Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) realizes that her new boyfriend Steve (Sebastian Stan) may not be as wonderful and charming as she believes. When truths about Steve’s life are revealed, the garish, queasy realities would elicit shouts at the screen, cringe-inducing clenching in your seat, and even perhaps a loss of someone’s appetite. In short, Fresh is a blast in a sinister, diabolically fun and entertaining kind of way.

Fresh is the movie you watch through your fingers. Definitely not for the squeamish, it is fair to say that a pasta bolognese has never looked more wonderful or horrifying at the same time. 

Prior to all the crazy plot twists and developments Cave and screenwriter Lauryn Kahn cook up here, Noa is a single woman who hates dating in every single way. She never finds satisfaction in pretending to like someone, and date after date feels inauthentic and not organic. Buying produce at the local market one night, she meets Steve, who awkwardly introduces himself and seemingly wins her over just enough for her to put her number into his phone.

Sure, the symbolism may seem to a bit on-the-nose with Fresh. Men date to acquire something, women date to feel something. Those marked differences are pronounced, at least in Noa’s mind, and she is simply not a piece of meat to be devoured and discarded. Steve seems different than most though. Until it turns out he’s not.

Where Fresh goes once Noa ends up at Steve’s place, prior to a vacation together, is where the spoilers arrive like a flood. Let’s just say that Steve has a certain type of appetite for the women he dates and he lives a secret double life, which may or may not be known by his wife Ann (Charlotte Le Bon).

Cave’s film is a little bit long for what it ultimately is, but that case of “first film-itis” can be forgiven when there are such inventive ways to keep us engaged in the material. Noa, off the grid once she leaves with Steve for that fateful vacation, is being pursued by her best friend Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs), who begins to worry when she hasn’t heard from her friend in a few days’ time. Mollie’s involvement in the film’s second half may seem predictable, but the underlying themes that Kahn’s script throws at viewers are cleverly realized. And in a film of graphic imagery and gut-churning subject matter, Fresh is far more smarter and intelligent than some may realize.

As the film works through its main plot, Cave and Kahn explore gaslighting and mental abuse, misogyny, toxic masculinity, and how women are viewed by opportunistic men who see them as a consumable property that can just be discarded. As Steve’s secrets are brought into the open, Noa has choices to make which could mean her literal life or death. Edgar-Jones and Stan are pretty terrific together, the psychological gamesmanship proving a tasty morsel of wickedness that all are having fun portraying.

There are outlandish moments involving music - a singular dance to Animotion’s 1985 disco-pop smash “Obsession,” a slow dance to Richard Marx’s “Endless Summer Nights,” turning into another fun moment. There’s also truly unforgettable visual imagery which proves hard to shake. 

Fresh may not be perfect, but it has sizzle and spice, maintaining a surprising series of flavors throughout its courses which make this a delectable and savory little treat.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jojo T. Gibbs, Andrea Bang, Dayo Okeniyi, Charlotte Le Bon, Brett Dier, Lachlan Quarmby, Alina Maris, William Belleau

Director: Mimi Cave
Written by: Lauryn Kahn
Release Date: March 4, 2022
Searchlight Pictures/Hulu