If Sebastian Stan's filmography has taught me anything, it's to expect the unexpected. His roles have been nothing short of deep, complex, and on occasion, morally questionable. Whether this is a conscious or unconscious effort on Stan's part, I've learned that his unassuming characters are usually not what they first appear to be. With this in mind I purposely kept myself in the dark as much as possible before watching Fresh, and I'm glad that I did.
With no expectations I was able to go into this with fresh eyes (you see what I did there?) As a single girl, reluctantly on dating apps, I immediately connected with Daisy Edgar-Jones' character. In this day and age, I think it's safe to assume a lot of people can relate to the drudgery of trying to date in this modern era where technology is king, and meeting organically is rare, particularly in a pandemic. What we learn quickly about Edgar-Jones' character, Noa, is that she's willing to overlook red flags when it comes to dating. Noa struggles with online dating, but a chance encounter at a grocery store leads her to Steve, played by Sebastian Stan. Remember I said Noa seemed to overlook red flags? Soon after Noa meets Steve I learned Fresh is definitely not a run of the mill romantic comedy.
While this movie is a horror flick, it isn't entirely dark. Writer, Lauryn Kahn, has created an incredible screenplay with multidimensional characters that bring levity to an otherwise heavy subject. Equally, the cast, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, and Jojo T. Gibbs all bring incredible reality and honesty to their respective characters. The light parts, that wouldn't normally belong in a gruesome film, work well and flow naturally. Stan does well bringing a level of likability to an unlikable character and Edgar-Jones brings realism to surviving her time with Stan's character, Steve. Along with a fantastic script and incredible acting performances, music also played a role in keeping the film light.
Much of the music remained upbeat through the film. Music can be a subtle guide in telling the audience how they should be feeling. I, myself, look for clues in music choices (Sometimes too hard. I'm an over-thinker, I can't help it). La fin du monde by Juniore, a French band, was my favorite song choice of the movie. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but I felt that the song choice might be conveying a bit of what Noa might be experiencing in that moment. She is excited, but maybe a tad confused and nervous. There was something about the song that made the situation feel not right. La fin du monde then fades into more ominous music paired with amazing cinematography letting the audience know this is, in fact, a horror film.
In her phenomenal directorial debut, Mimi Cave creates incredible symbolism with subtle cues throughout the film. The close ups, while they didn't initially make sense as I didn’t read the movie tagline, fell into place as the movie progressed. Not to give too much away, the use of mirrors, colors and even dancing all create thought provoking symbolism. I particularly enjoyed that the opening credits do not roll until about 30 minutes into the movie. When asked about this choice Cave said that it felt natural to put the credits where they were as if it's splitting up two different types of movies. While there are hints that this is a gory, horror film early on, there is a definite transitional phase the movie goes through, and she is right, the credits roll at the perfect time.
There is one more key factor that could have entirely broken the realism and believability of this movie; props and costume design. I will not give away why, but I will say if the props hadn’t been realistic, and if the costume design hadn’t been as detailed there would have been a point where this film could have moved into cheesy territory.
In short, this incredibly unique, female driven movie is a must see!
Fresh will be available Hulu beginning 4 March 2022 exclusively in the United States. Come Spring, Fresh will also be available to stream on Star+ and Disney+ in all other countries.
Author's note:
I can't wait for more of you to see Fresh. There is so much I wanted to write about in depth and discuss, but I didn't want to give spoilers. I have never written a true movie review as I normally write analyses of film and literature that delve into plot, theme, symbolism, prose, etc. But, as this is my first official post here, I wanted to do a new release. I also particularly enjoy psychological theory in literary criticism, so this felt like an appropriate first review. Happy Movie Monday!
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