SiftPop

by Chantal Ashford, Contributing Writer

I was interested when I first heard about Fresh. The premise is what caught me. The two leads as well. I believed I knew what I was getting into. I thought it to be obvious, but actually, I was wrong. There was a twist I didn’t expect. 

Fresh shows the horrors of online dating through the eyes of a young woman, Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a graphic designer, trying to find the right guy. With failed dates, particularly from the beginning of the film, she had to split a bill with a douchebag (Brett Dier), who also took her leftovers, only to rub salt in the wound and leave her rejected. 

When Noa makes a trip to the local grocery store, she meets the awkwardly charming Steve (Sebastian Stan), a reconstructive doctor on his second residency. Their interaction is cute and you definitely see the sparks flying. He seems like the right guy, but he has no history of any kind of social media. It should’ve been a red flag, but not everyone has social media, so moving along. It’s fun to watch them fall for each other and have a good time because it’s what 30-somethings do.

After two dates, he’s got Noa’s trust, along with mine, and agrees to take an out-of-town trip; their relationship becomes a whirlwind. He’s everything Noa hopes for except for one tiny thing: he’s a cannibal and sells meat to other cannibals. As the rom-com goes wrong right in front of our and Noa’s eyes, the woman is trapped in a basement, along with other women, battling for survival. She struggles with her reality for a while before grasping at having to play his game to make it out alive. 

Edgar-Jones is staggering as Noa, first as an underwhelmed single woman, wondering if love is cut out for her. But after falling for a man she thinks she knows, then becoming resilient and playing the game, she soars. In the scene when she realizes this swirling romance was a joke, she emotes the fear and anxiety settling in. Edgar-Jones makes you feel for her and hopes she survives. 

Stan is devilishly charming and creepy, but docile. He seems to have found his footing, but I wished for him to really lose himself. Uncomfortable was what I was looking for, but I didn’t get it. There was one time — when Steve screams for Noa’s attention and explains what he’s doing is when he wows me. After that, I didn’t feel anything else. Stan was a good choice, but I expected crazier. When he loses control of his situation in the end, you find a man desperate, trying to get it back and failing miserably. At least he and Edgar-Jones had the chemistry, because nothing is worse than when the leads don’t have an ounce of chemistry. 

Jojo T. Gibbs as Noa’s resilient and comedic relief best friend Mollie is the friend everyone should have. She turned into the detective, knowing something has gone wrong. Mollie doesn’t give up until she caught up with Noa, but is caught in the same position. Gibbs and Edgar-Jones have great chemistry as friends as well. They seem as if they’ve been friends forever. 

Director Mimi Cave, in her wickedly amusing debut, showed us the dreads of online dating and what it’s like to go outside again and find someone, but that’s not an easy feat either. Cave’s a keen observer with the close-up shots of nervousness, intimacy, fear, and horror. With the help of a fitting soundtrack and some good visuals, it’s a decent thriller feature. 

Fresh has a fun premise and good performances, but with an iffy and messy execution. The first two acts were good, but the time dragged a little before getting to the third act, where the action begins with Noa, Mollie, and the longest survivor, Penny fighting Steve to make their way out of this hell alive. It did end on a funny note, which I liked, but it was too tame with the premise of cannibalism. I was rooting for more gore and blood, which would’ve made it better. 

Fresh definitely took dating to another level and makes me think otherwise of who I meet.

Score: 7/10

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