Fresh
The appropriately-titled "Fresh" injects new energy into the horror genre and introduces audiences to two exciting female filmmaking voices.
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I probably should’ve digested “Fresh” (no, not the 1994 Samuel L. Jackson indie vehicle – this one’s new and now streaming on Hulu) a bit more before writing this review, but I gotta say my first impression is to be impressed.
“Fresh” concerns a young woman named Noa (British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones) who’s been unlucky in love. The movie opens with her going on a crummy date with a total Chad (apologies to my brother-in-law who’s not reading this) named Chad (a hilarious Brett Dier). Shortly after lamenting the lull in her love life to her bestie Mollie (an electric Jojo T. Gibbs), Noa meets charming stranger Steve (Sebastian Stan) in the produce section of their local grocery store. Smitten with Steve, Noa gives him her phone number and soon enough they meet up for a date at a nearby watering hole. The engagement goes so glowingly that the pair shortly make a weekend getaway together. The expediency of this expedition and Steve’s lack of social media serve as red flags for Mollie, who’s justifiably concerned.
I don’t want to delve further into the film’s plot as it goes to some pretty wild places. “Fresh” is the feature directorial debut of Mimi Cave (who’s directed music videos for Vance Joy, Sleigh Bells and Jim James) and the second produced screenplay from Lauryn Kahn after the 2018 Netflix joint “Ibiza” (she used to be “Don’t Look Up” director Adam McKay’s assistant and he produced both pictures). I applaud each of these ladies for their awesome efforts. These are two exciting new female voices to the filmmaking world and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
“Fresh” is a tightrope walk of a movie tonally and much of it totally lands – the flick waits a whopping 33 minutes before dropping its title card and opening credits (a technique I absolutely adore – see “The Departed,” “Friday the 13th” (2009), “The A-Team” (2010) and “Deadpool 2”) at which point it transforms into an entirely different film. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t a bit bummed by the darker direction “Fresh” took as I was legitimately charmed by its first 30 minutes, but this deviation makes for an interestingly insane ride.
Ably assisting Cave and Kahn in realizing their vision is the talented cast of “Fresh.” Stan is the only actor I was familiar with beforehand and he’s reliably solid here. I’d never seen Edgar-Jones or Gibbs before, but I was immensely impressed by both of ‘em … Gibbs especially. We all deserve a friend as good as Gibbs’ Mollie.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall watching my wife and her girlfriends watch “Fresh.” It’d make for an awesome ladies night movie for adventurous audiences as it’s ultimately a stirring representation of female empowerment and friendship, but this dude dug it too. I’d just recommend checking your drink prior to chugging and only eating vegetarian or vegan foods while watching.