By Brent Snyder (3/27/2022)
First things first - any discussion of "Fresh," starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan, is going to be chock-full of spoilers. So if you haven't seen the rom-com/horror hybrid yet, do yourself a favor and stream it on Hulu post haste.
Secondly, many viewers and reviewers cannot agree on what category to place this genre-blending work. Is it a black comedy, a mystery thriller, a gross-out horror flick - or as I like to view it, all of the above? For me, "Fresh" is one of the best modern horror films I've seen in recent times.
A little bit of "Audition" mixed with a dash of "Boxing Helena," a tablespoon of "American Psycho" and a heaping helping of "Get Out," "Fresh" expertly dissects dating, horror tropes and gnashing the patriarchy with a sharply comic edge. Written by Lauryn Kahn and directed by Mimi Cave, "Fresh" was a Sundance Film Festival hit co-produced by Adam McKay ("Don't Look Up").
Indeed for the first 15 minutes or so of "Fresh," Noa (Edgar-Jones) appears to be in a rom-com about about the perils of single life in the modern age, with online dating apps, boorish Chads and unsolicited dick pics. Bumping into the humorous (and handsome) Steve (Stan) at the supermarket, she thinks maybe she's finally met a decent guy - so what if he suspiciously has no social media presence whatsoever?
Ignoring the sound advice of her best friend (Jonica T. Gibbs), Noa agrees to take off for the weekend with Steve to a secluded location with no cell service. Once they arrive at Steve's expensive art-filled lair, he immediately makes Noa a "special" version of her favorite cocktail and encourages her to gulp it down. Sure enough, Noa promptly falls flat on her face unconscious and we realize we're in a horror movie.
Awakening shackled in a basement cell, Noa discovers the awful truth. Steve earns his living by harvesting black market human flesh for a global cannibal fetish cabal. And she's next on the menu.
But instead of a grim torture porn, "Fresh" treats us to a smartly made battle of wits between hunter and prey that keeps us guessing even as the blood flows and the body parts pile up. Edgar-Jones is excellent as Noa the how-the-hell-is-she-going-to-get-out-of-this final girl who is determined to avoid the butcher's blade.
Stan gives a captivating performance as the film's big bad Steve. His cannibal connoisseur exudes nice-guy charm to the victims he grooms, but behind his flawless facade rages a bloodthirsty misogynist. He claims to only target women because they supposedly "taste better," but he clearly desires to consume them as the ultimate expression of power.
The cast is rounded out with cleverly drawn versions of stock horror characters. Gibbs nearly steals the show as the heroic best friend searching for her missing buddy. Also good is Charotte Le Bon as the big bad's wife/business partner (who may or may not be one of his former victims). Other highlights include Brett Dier is the douchey Chad - actually named Chad - and Dayo Okeniyi as the "not all men" dude who ends up voicing the film's best line.
The simmering tension bubbling up throughout "Fresh" eventually boils over into a cathartic climax of satisfying survival horror. The female victims turn the tables on their captors, working together as a team to save themselves - and the baddies get their crowd-pleasing comeuppance. As for the yet unnamed global cannibal fetish cabal, it appears to still be intact by film's end. Will this lead to a "Hostel" style franchise of "Fresh" sequels? Perhaps only time - and the appetite of the audience - will tell.
Four Stars
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