In today’s world of dating, everything seems to be defined by left or right swipes on apps full of either genuinely good people or devious serial killers seeking their next victims. The thing about that is you never truly know what someone may look like or act like when you finally meet them face to face. Through all this half-witted online dating that has taken a tight grip on recent generations, it seems as though true authentic love is simply impossible to find. 

New 2022 horror film “Fresh” takes this concept to a whole new level through a thrilling story of one girl’s love interest with an unexpected diet. 

(Spoilers)

We get introduced to Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in a pitch-perfect opening scene during a date with an audacious cheapskate named Chad (Brett Dier). This scarf-wearing disgrace of a man insults both Noa and their waitress while refusing to pay for their meal as well as implying passive-aggressive comments towards Noa. After this harshly failed attempt at online dating, Noa decides to put her love life to rest for a bit and focus on herself. That is until she meets her supermarket love while grocery shopping late one night. Steve (Sebastian Stan) appears to take a major interest in Noa and charms her with his comedic abilities and sparkling smile. From here, their short lived relationship kicks off. 

The way the producers introduced Steve into Noa’s life at a time of need makes him seem like a decent guy. His endearing and sweet personality really sets the tone for a classic 21st century love story. However, I’m still angry with the producers for making the audience become smitten towards Steve and his hysterical charm before unloading the truth in one big boom not even halfway through the film.  

As their relationship becomes more intimate, Steve and Noa get closer by the day. They learn to be comfortable around each other and swiftly overcome the awkward phase.  Although they’re still very early in their relationship, Noa allows Steve to whisk her away to a surprise weekend getaway to an unknown location. Noa was all in for the idea, but her best friend, Mollie (Jonica T. Gibbs), was not so much. 

To be realistic, who wouldn’t raise a slight eyebrow to a mysterious man without any social media or social footprint who claims to be a plastic surgeon? Apparently not Noa. She put all her trust in a perfect man she met in a grocery store aisle, like come on Noa. Her stupidity and overly trusting personality lead her to be in the situation she soon encounters. So, in a way, it’s her own fault. However, I don’t really blame her, she was excited about finally meeting a good guy who cared for her, but look at how that turned out. 

Moving forward, Noa decides to finalize her trip with Steve and hit the road to her romantic weekend away. Steve takes Noa to his house beforehand to settle down and leave for the mystery location the next morning. Noa soon discovers that escaping town with a stranger probably wasn’t the best idea when she gets drugged and ends up passed out on the floor of Steve’s mansion in the woods. 

In this scene we see the title rise across the screen around 30 minutes into the film which I found quite interesting and set apart from other productions like this. It gives the film more of a sinister feel after the initial shock of figuring out what kind of person Steve really is.  

Noa later wakes up in a locked-up room, chained to the wall, and in complete and utter disbelief. After a few minutes of crying and pleading for her life, Steve finally reveals that he’s planning to make a profit off of Noa’s body parts and sell them to other sick-minded cannibals who find pleasure in eating human meat. As she finally comes to terms with her fate and her fear slips away, Noa hears a faint voice from the vent next to her. With this, she discovers that there are multiple girls locked up in rooms next to hers. This information brought Noa’s optimism back to life as she plots her big escape. 

From strange, gruesome, and everything in between, the plot escalates quickly with many unexpected twists and turns along the way. I wouldn’t say the scenes in the film are “jump out of our seat” type scary, but just rather gross and extremely bizarre. I guess that’s what made the film unique in a way by the use of satirical acting and disgusting concepts. I did however enjoy how the producers hinted at Steve’s unusual diet in many scenes throughout the story. If you pay attention, it strongly foreshadows what’s to come further in the film. 

After a few failed escape attempts, Noa has to think of another plan. As Steve has mentioned throughout the film, he seems to genuinely like Noa and doesn’t truly want to cause her any harm. Noa decides to use this to her advantage and gain his trust back once again. With this, she agrees to try human meat and has many dinner dates with Steve to prove that she won’t try anything again. All while this is happening, Mollie has gotten herself into a bit of trouble as she tries to get to the bottom of Noa’s lack of communication and odd disappearance. She discovers that Steve has a whole other family, as well as a wife that helps him in his kidnappings. Mollie soon ends up in the same situation as her and gets locked up in a room just a few down from Noa’s. Not so thankfully, Mollie told her ex-boyfriend, Paul (Dayo Okeniyi), who goes searching after her. 

This part of the film actually sort of irritated me by the fact that it was just so unnecessary. We see Paul drive all the way out to Steve’s house while tracking Mollie’s GPS location to just turn around seconds after and leave, knowing that Mollie’s phone was in there and that she may have been in trouble. How stupid can this dude be?

Towards the end, as well as the climax of the film, Noa makes a bloody get-away from Steve and locks him in his room while she goes to retrieve the other girls, including Mollie. All three girls perform an aggressive brawl against Steve and leave him presumed “dead” on the ground with a bashed-in head. The girls make their way through the dark woods and, once again, are forced to fight off Steve, who is somehow still alive, and this time has a weapon. As you may have guessed, the girls kill off Steve but then unexpectedly have another enemy to eradicate. Steve’s wife, Ann (Charlotte Le Bon), seeks vengeance against Noa and attempts to choke her to death. As usual, Mollie comes to the rescue and ends her once and for all. 

The overall film was strange, hysterical, and in many ways gruesome. The use of gore and excessively bloody scenes made it the stomach-churning type of film it claimed to be. I wouldn’t particularly say it was a bad film, but the all-over-the-place plot made it slightly difficult to follow. However, it was quite the entertaining two hours I spent watching it. Still, it wasn’t really worth my time. “Fresh” is a great film to watch out of boredom, but not so great to watch if seeking an authentic, hair-raising horror movie.

3/5