Fresh released on 20th January 2022. Directed by Mimi Cave, the movie has a run time of 2 hours and is produced by the director of Don’t Worry Darling, Adam McKay.
Fresh Movie Cast
- Sebastian Stan as Steve
- Daisy Edgar Jones as Noa
- Charlotte Le Bon as Ann
- Andrea Bang as Penny
- Jonica T. Gibbs as Mollie
Fresh Movie Plot
Tired of using dating apps, Noa decides to go all in with Steve who she meets in the grocery store. Their relationship is all sunshine and cherry filled drinks till they decide to go away for the weekend. Noa sets herself up for something she doesn’t have appetite for.
Fresh Movie Review
About time a movie discussed the horrors of online dating. I dedicated exactly one night to it and those few hours reconfirmed my judgements about nothing good coming out of swiping. Well, this movie is probably on the crossroads about it. It starts off with Noa meeting up a man she met through an online dating platform. His name is Chad, that should have been her first hint about how the night is going to end. In the most misogynistic and entitled manner, Chad walked away leaving Noa contemplating all her life decisions.
I liked this movie from the start because of a small detail. When Noa started heading back to her place, she got anxious about a person following her. It showed that this character is usually pretty apprehensive and probably does not trust anything or anyone. This detail is important because suddenly Noa is completely alright jumping into a relationship with a random person she meets in the grocery store.
Sebastian Stan, man, he looks good. Even though he may get arrested walking the streets because he is killing all the ladies (Anthony Mackie gave the spoiler not me), is a stranger who ask Noa out. Steve meets Noa in the grocery store and asks for her number. Charmed by the little conversation they had had about cotton candy grapes, she gives him her contact. They meet up soon after and from there starts their speedy relationship.
He asks her to go away with him for the weekend and this usually apprehensive person says yes. On the day of their trip, he decides to first take them to their house. While one can see that she gets a little suspicious, she soon blows it off. Here is where the movie picks up. She gets drugged. 40 minutes after the movie begins, Cave planned the opening credits. It cuts to a montage of blood, meat and Stan overlooking at it all as the credits are shown across the screen.
It is a way to indicate to the audience that the story before is almost irrelevant. It is preparatory, the way food is processed before it is actually packed and shipped off. A really unfortunate analogy on my part but pretty accurate in terms of the story. Steve is a cannibal and also deals in human flesh. Specifically, woman. According to him they taste better. There are so many lines in this movie which will make you pause and contemplate your existence from thereon.
It truly challenges your brain. One of the thoughts that will surface in your mind is, “what if Armie Hammer was casted instead” and you will have to shut that thought off. Cannibalism is a topic that needs to be tread on very lightly. The movie somehow manages to not make it completely alien as a concept and neither does it demand the audience to normalise it. With pain and torture along with loneliness being its key themes, the team has reassured their viewers that at no point are they trying to give cannibalists representation.
What I loved the most about the movie was how unabashedly they shot the meat processing scenes. It was detailed, gory and truly made one lose their appetite. If you eat something before the movie, all the best, if you haven’t then you will never think of food in the same way again. Vegetarians and Vegans, you too.
I can’t speak enough about Stan and Jones’ performance in the movie. Stan was enchanting and Jones was so good that she would instantly steal the scene. They had a chemistry which I can’t pin as romantic. There was a clear power battle between them and yet the smiles spoke a different language. See the movie and you will realise the importance of the smile.
Speaking about their scenes, I have to say that their “dance” scene is not overhyped at all. I didn’t blink once because the dance put me in a trance. Which was the intended effect. They both were falling into the trance the other was exuding. Noa had to convince herself to do something that she probably had never imagined doing and Steve had to fall for his captive. This was not your average Stockholm syndrome story, it did scarily start resembling one in the middle but it doesn’t disappoint you.
While this movie was everything I expected, I did want to see more of the other characters. They all had established solid relations with the protagonist so seeing them for minimal screen time didn’t do them much justice. Kim’s Convenience star Andrea Bang was on the screen for a total of 5 minutes and her character Penny could definitely have done more. Paul, an important character in the plot was also left away as a character after sometime and the lack of his character could be felt.
The movie’s build up was pretty good but I wasn’t satisfied by it, the way mysteries usually are because of how neatly all strings are tied. It was an unexpected movie and the music score was as psychedelic as the production intended so I was truly in a very entertaining trance throughout.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
I would recommend this movie to everyone. It isn’t really horror but as I am completely off that genre this is the closest I am getting to it. Fresh is easily one of the top Sebastian Stan projects for me because of how “seamlessly” he channels the scary but charming Steve.
