A Fresh Twist on Horror
Mimi Cave’s debut feature gives viewers a raw look at modern dating.
By Jessica Katz, Online Editor, and Maya Greenberg, New Members Director
Spoiler warning.
“Fresh” is a quirky take on the classic horror genre that successfully walks the line between fun and cheesy. The film debuted March 4 exclusively on Hulu after its premiere at Sundance the week prior. Directed by Mimi Cave and starring Daisy Edgar Jones (Noa) and Sebastian Stan (Steve), it explores the “horrors of modern dating seen through one young woman's defiant battle to survive her new boyfriend's unusual appetites” (Fresh (2022), 2022).
An ode to rom coms, “Fresh” begins with our protagonist Noa struggling through the world of swiping and pretentious first dates. That’s until Steve, a charismatic reconstructive surgeon with no social media presence, makes Noa believe that it is possible to meet the perfect person in the real world. He’s goofy and sweet, and most importantly, he shows a clear interest in Noa. Basically, he seems almost too good to be true. After two or three dates, Steve offers to take Noa away on the weekend. Noa, against her better judgment and the advice of her best friend Mollie, agrees, and the two drive off to a cabin in the supposedly beautiful Cottage Grove. After arriving at a luxury home owned by Steve, Noa, a veteran of bad dates, has a slight sinking feeling when she realizes that she has no cell service.
But she acts like everything is okay. They chat a bit, he makes her a drink with plenty of cherries and then her vision goes blurry... She passes out. Cue opening credits.
Noa wakes up in a small room chained at the ankles. Turns out, Steve is a cannibal. While he truly is a reconstructive surgeon of sorts, he uses his charm to lure in dates and sell their meat. Everything that could go wrong, did. Quite literally.
In an attempt to keep up the facade of a weekend away, Steve uses Noa’s phone to text a concerned Mollie. Mollie does what any best friend would do: scour the Internet for any information on the mysterious new love interest. After discovering Steve is not who he claims to be, Mollie sets off on a mission to save Noa and ends up under Steve’s knife.
A king of gaslighting with his charm, Steve attempts to convince Noa that everything is okay and they can still spend time together-all while she is chained up in his basement waiting to be a black market millionaire's next meal. Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of Steve shows us what it would be like if Ted Bundy were alive in the time of online dating. He’s evil yet alluring?
At the same time, we are rooting for our girl, Noa. Noticing that Steve has a soft spot for her, she devises a plan to save herself, giving our Steve narcissist all he desires: her full attention. She mentions her curiosity about his cannibalistic ways–the appeal, the taste–and he eats it up. He gifts Noa a little pink dress and cooks her a $20,000 meal. Noa truly seemed to enjoy the taste of Steve’s ex-girlfriends, so much so we couldn’t tell if she was still putting on an act.
The two flirt and chat, then Noa asks him to dance, a nod to an earlier date of theirs. Ah, the famed dance scene; it feels dreamlike and sensual with hints of suspense. The two move seamlessly in sync to Richard Marx’s “Endless Summer Nights,” grinning in a way that is inexplicably mesmerizing.
Noa and Steve slowly transition to the bedroom. In the heat of the moment, Noa takes control—quite different from the prior power dynamic. Slowly, she leaves a trail of kisses down his body, and then. And then. She quite literally bites back… on his penis.
With Steve dismembered, Noa races to rescue Mollie and Penny (another victim), leading to a kitchen bloodbath. Reminiscent of a classic slasher film, the ending goes on a bit too long and Steve seems to survive one too many injuries. Nonetheless, the three girls kill Steve and escape the worst date imaginable. And of course, Noa receives our favorite text from a past love interest: “U up?”
“Fresh” successfully employs the basic horror tropes, with cheeky takes scattered throughout. Mimi Cave teases the viewers with hints of Steve’s unusual appetite, playfully pacing Noa under a “Fresh Meats” sign when she first catches Steve’s eye. Later, we begin to feel uneasy when Noa offers Steve something to eat or drink. His response: “Just you.” If you missed the first two hints, here’s one more. On their second date, Noa offers to share her short ribs; that’s when Steve tells her, “I just don’t eat animals.” In hindsight, instead of saying he’s a vegetarian or doesn’t eat meat, he carefully specifies that he does not eat animal meat… Because he only eats human meat.
With bold directorial choices, such as the opening credits happening 33 minutes into the film, Mimi Cave takes the viewer on a darkly funny and twisted journey of the unfortunate (though exaggerated) realities of modern dating. In reality, the odds of landing a date with a serial killer and especially a cannibal are slim-to-none, though a creep, or just a douche, is not hard to come by.
Sources:
Fresh (2022). (2022). IMDb.