Dating is hard. Even with the infinite choices we have at our fingertips, we never know what we’re going to get. It’s all trial and error. But what if you find someone you truly connect with? Will you take the leap of faith or would you be cautious? Director Mimi Cave and writer Lauryn Kahn explore the horrors of modern dating with Fresh, the story of one young woman's defiant battle to survive her new boyfriend's unusual appetites.
Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) has had a series of disaster dates, but fate has other things in mind as she meets Steve (Sebastian Stan) at a grocery store, and an immediate spark lights between them. A few days later, she is on a weekend road trip with Steve. But first, they make a pit stop at Steve's home in the woods. This is where things take a turn: Noa finds herself drugged and later chained in the basement as Steve reveals his unusual appetite for human flesh.
The thing to admire about Fresh is how it manipulates genre tropes to keep you on the edge. The meet-cute between Noa and Steve feels torn out of a rom-com. Cave uses these dreamy moments to reel the audience in, slyly transforming what appears to be a tale of love into a shivering ride in the vein of The Silence of the Lambs and Get Out. Kahn and Cave twist horror stereotypes in an unexpected way that keeps you invested in how this absurd tale is going to end.
Edgar-Jones captures every nuance of Noa. She is fearless in her portrayal and manages to capture her heightened emotional state quite brilliantly, especially in intense scenes where she has no other choice to play the long game to make her eventual escape. Noa as a character is not shown as a damsel in distress, rather she is someone who takes control and actively makes efforts that are intelligent and keep the audience rooting and cheering for her.
Stan is charismatic as Steve who hides his true creepy identity as a cannibalistic butcher. Steve knows his power of being good-looking and he uses that to his benefit to woo single women who have no one else in their lives. It’s fascinating to see a character like Steve who takes pure pleasure in his aberrant wants and needs, similar to Hannibal Lecter. The scene where Steve talks about how he started his journey of devouring the human flesh is quite fascinating, presented as more of an addiction.
Fresh opens with an honest and refreshing look at the modern dating world and the dangers it holds for women. With incredible performances from Edgar-Jones and Stan, Cave and Kahn carve up a thrilling ride that keeps on surprising you until the movie's final frame. Recommended for general horror film collections.