Reviewed by Victoria Osborn
Are you hungry for a slow-cooked horror flick? Well, get ready for an odd feast.
Noa, played by the very talented Daisy Edgar-Jones, {‘Normal People’, ‘War of the Worlds’} is a plain girl looking for love in all the wrong places. Noa tries a dating app, swiping past a multitude of horrible selections. Which begs to question what on earth did she put on her application to get such a poor selection of men? Her utter desperation and loneliness seem to cause her to try to chat with a few in spite of it all. This only leads to fat men sending nudes and horrendous dates (we can assume this is a trend). We witness her going on a date only for it to end with her date shouting profanities at her. She seems to feel that there is no one for her and confides in her best friend. Telling her about her frustrations with dating. Her best friend, Mollie, played by Jonica “Jojo” T. Gibbs, {‘Twenties’, ‘The Left Right Game’} tells her “you do not need a man”. There is a small and subtle vibe that perhaps Mollie would rather her friend look at her instead. If only she would have listened.
Straight away, you learn a few things about Noa. We are given hints of Noa’s strength, starting with how she handled her horrid date. Showing up again when she and Mollie are seen in the gym as Noa is punching a punching bag in a workout that clearly is a routine she has grown used to doing. She doesn’t try too hard for the love she seems to be craving. She doesn’t dress up or apply makeup or get into that cliche ‘looking for love’ clothing attire. In fact, her appearance seemed incredibly dressed down for the “desperate dater” vibe that the story was trying to have us feel about her. Instead, she is in oversized clothing that does nothing to flatter her and her hair is just a little messy. The clothing put together by costume designers (Athena Theny and Christina Flannery) tells its own story of Noa and it also plays well into the believability of the movie. She is just like anyone you might know. Right down to her outfit in the grocery store.
The grocery store shopping attire is a fashion that could nominate her for the grocery store worst dress category; it is here she meets the gorgeous Steve, played by the immensely talented Sebastian Stan {‘Pam & Tommy’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’}. His personality comes across as nerdy. He says the wrong things and is totally awkward. His clothing, while it displays a sense that he has money, is also a bit on the dorky side. She is won over by his awkwardness and agrees to give him her number. A match made in…heaven?
Wait for it! Then wait some more.
The movie marinates their relationship as we watch Noa and Steve bond over dancing and playful conversations. He is the dream guy. The perfect boyfriend. It’s date three and he is proposing a trip out of town. Now, to be fair this movie is labeled as horror so we are all screaming at the screen, “don’t do it”. But in real life, it is believable that someone might be swept off their feet already and just go for it. Especially since she believes he is the guy she had hoped for.
They make it to his house, (he tells her that it would be better to start out in the morning on their surprise trip). His house is huge, beautifully decorated, and arranged impeccably. An abstract original hangs on the wall that captures Noa’s eye. It is stunning, but what is it made of? We are not told. He makes her a drink and asks her to guess what is in it. A clever way to get her to drink several swallows as she continues to guess wrong. She then notices that she is having a hard time seeing and passes out. A lightweight?
We are now about 30 minutes in and they finally show us the title and who is in the movie and it is now to the part where the “horror” is to begin. In most horror movies you look at the situation and you cannot even imagine it happening in the real world. It is not realistic. It is action-packed and scary but it is not realistic. That is one of the biggest differences this movie has with those movies. This one, you wonder about. What if there is a society like this somewhere out there?
The idea behind “Fresh”, was written by Lauryn Kahn. Kahn is known for ‘Other Guys’ and ‘Step-brothers’ as additional crew. As a writer, she is fairly new. It is directed by Mimi Cave, who has several music videos and shorts under her belt but is also fairly new in the aspect of a full-length horror movie. Their newness in this shows a bit. This might be why the whole movie was slow and drawn out, with scenes on more than one occasion that seemed completely unnecessary for the development of the story and suspense. There were more food scenes than horror scenes.
Having said that, they did create a very believable situation as far as the plot goes. You know that it could actually happen. You hear in the news horrible stories every single day of how people were lured to their deaths, etc. So the believability of this movie was definitely on point. The acting was amazing. Sebastian Stan was the perfect choice for Steve. He has that not too good; not too bad vibe that worked beautifully for this film. Daisy Edgar-Jones also nailed Noa. While she was great at her role, there were a few things that caused some pause in her character’s decision-making process. It begs the question, How far would you go to save your own life?
One character that stood out was Ann played by Charlotte Le Bon {‘Warning’; ‘Berlin, I Love You’} not only for her amazingly creepy role (executed perfectly by Le Bon) but her mysteriously under-told backstory that is left for the viewers to draw their own conclusions. While having a very short screen time, Le Bon truly made her character stand out. A bit of genius on the part of Kahn and Cave for leaving her story open for the viewers to interpret as they see fit.
The musical composition by Alex Somers was not the type of music one would normally expect from a horror movie. A broad spectrum of selections peculiarly put together. From Noa and Steve dancing to “You’re Not Good Enough” by Blood Orange on their date to “I Hear a New World” by Joe Meek & The Blue Men which you hear playing just as the movie starts showing its true colors, and to “Perfect Day” by Duran Duran which was heard during a revelational moment of a minor character. The musical composition played oddly and awkwardly throughout the movie as a character all its own. Even the “Golden Girls” theme song “Thank you for being a friend” was used for the ringtone for Mollie. It was a nice contribution to the late Betty White, however, it furthered the resolve that the music may have been as nerdy as the lead role, and therefore actually fit well.
The whole movie was slow and drawn out. There was a creepy aspect to it, but to be honest the biggest creep factor of this movie came from the victims more than the “monster”. There were little to no jump scares.
While this movie might not have satisfied your horror appetite, it is a great little horror snack.