Fresh (2022) Review

 "Fear and stress isn't good for the meat."

-Steve

After struggling with dating apps, Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) finally meets the guy of her dreams, the charming and funny Steve (Sebastian Stan).  Not long after they start dating, Steve invites Noa on a weekend getaway and quickly discovers her boyfriend has an unusual and deadly appetite.

What Works:

So, I love cannibal movies.  I don't know why, but they've always struck the right note with me, especially the weirder ones.  When this movie was announced, multiple people sent me a link to the trailer just because they knew it would be right up my alley.  I even wrote and directed a short film in college with a very similar tone and subject matter to Fresh, so I knew I was going to like this movie and it delivered.

This is a dark comedy and manages to hit both of those descriptions well.  There are parts of the movie that are disturbing and legitimately upsetting.  It's also funny, if you have a dark sense of humor.  This movie is absolutely not for everyone, but if you like dark comedies, you might dig Fresh.

The performances are really good across the board.  Sebastian Stan is delightful as the villain.  He does a good job of making the audience and Noa fall for him before the big reveal.  And when we do see him for who he really is, he still manages to be charming, if sick and deranged.

I also really like the performances of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jonica T. Gibbs, who plays Noa's best friend, Mollie.  They have great chemistry and feel like real friends.  Though they are separated for most of the movie and have only a handful of scenes together, they work well together and you care about both of them.

Recently, there have been lots of movies about female empowerment, which is great, just some movies handle it more naturally than others.  This movie does a really good job on that front.  They don't need to spell out what the movie is trying to say in clunky dialogue.  It does it in action.  We have a small group of women who come together to emotionally support one another and help each other survive a horrific situation.  It's got a great message that is handled well.

What Sucks:

There is one character, Ann (Charlotte Le Bon), who is woefully underused.  She had the potential to be the most interesting character in the movie, especially after we learn her backstory, but they don't do anything creative with her character in the 3rd act, which brings that part of the movie down a little bit.  She had a ton of potential, but they didn't use it and we're left with a disappointing and underdeveloped character who could have been something really special.  

I'm of the belief that when you're making a movie with a dark and twisted subject matter, you need at least one horrific and shocking scene that dials the movie up to 11.  We never get that here.  Yes, horrible things happen, but it's mostly offscreen.  It needs a signature moment and that moments needs to be gory.  I think the best moment for this could have been when Noa and Penny (Andrea Bang) meet face-to-face for the first time, but it was a little underwhelming.  I really wanted that one moment that would scar most members of the audience, but it never happened.

Verdict:

Fresh is a movie right up my alley.  It's disturbing and funny with a great message and awesome performances.  One character was very underused and it's lacking a signature moment to define the movie, but I'd still say it's really got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good