User Reviews

Firstly imagine how much money Steve would have made off of Sheila from Santa Clarita diet. Fresh is not what I expected, it's not a comedy and even though it's quite gory I can't call it a horror either but that's the nearest genre you could give it. It's not there to scare you out your couch or sleep; maybe out of your dating life but that's about it. It's a romance gone wrong. I like how it combines two of my favorite genres because I'm a sucker for lovey dovey movies but then it takes a turn. The first part of the movie is quite normal, girl with an inauspicious dating life to say the least, meets a seemingly nice guy and they hit off. A meet-cute I believe it's called. The opening credits roll in after 30min as if to signal the end to that and start of something else. A 30min intro.

I guess it's the hopeless romantic side of me that led me to believe for a split second this was going to turn into a romcom, then it didn't and I thought oh so he's gonna end up being the molesting type, and it took another, even worse turn. All my premeditations just kept getting crossed out for something worse so I just stopped assuming. My assumptions were actually going to be easier to stomach than how it actually turned out. And how he thought he could get Noa to see things his way too, I guess that's how he met his wife Ann so he probably thought he could pull it off.

It's really quite a shocking and decent film, in an unsettling way and I liked it. It's not gory enough to put off an average viewer; it somehow sits on the edge where both a horror fan and non-fan could enjoy the movie. I think they should be a genre for movies like this one, like "Promising Young Woman", or "the invisible man" which I did love but didn't find it frightening enough to call a horror. And this definitely isn't a comedy, I don't know why it's described as such. It's uncomfortable to watch yet entertaining at the same time because it doesn't let itself become unwatchable which it easily could have been and I think that's exquisite directing.

Greetings again from the darkness. Discotheques and Night Clubs were regularly referred to as 'meat markets', and all movie lovers are familiar with the term 'meet-cute'. It's rare for meat and meet to merge into a cautionary tale of modern-day dating, but that's what we get from director Mimi Cave's first feature film and a script from Lauryn Kahn (IBIZA, 2018). This twisted film should slide easily into the Midnight Movie rotation for those looking for a slicer, rather than a slasher.

Daisy Edgar-Jones ("Normal People", 2020) stars as Noa, a twenty-something frustrated with the results of digital dating apps. Her experience is a case study on the challenges of meeting someone special, or even someone not psychotic, through a dating app. She swipes right on a cute puppy picture, and almost immediately receives an unwanted 'private' shot. When she does agree to have dinner with one guy, he criticizes her fashion, yearns for old-fashioned femininity, makes her pay half, and doesn't bother to hold the door for her. Noa tells her close friend Mollie (Jojo T Gibbs) that she's done with dating for a while, and who can blame her?

Not long after that trainwreck date, and when she's least expecting it, Noa gets her meet-cute in the produce aisle at the grocery store. Steve (Sebastian Stan who plays Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Universe) is a charming, good-looking guy and she agrees to give him her number. Their first date is filled with the usual background Q&A stuff, but it's clear that Noa and Steve have some chemistry. The reason this works cinematically is that director Cave allows us to view Steve through Noa's eyes. Just like her, we are diligently searching for red flags, remaining on high alert for signs something is off. But plastic surgeon Steve's early warning signs only become noticeable much later (too late) after his true self is revealed.

Steve's true-self-revelation is a doozy, and the opening credits pop up just after the gut-punch, approximately 40 minutes in. While the first act plays a bit like a traditional rom-com with all the associated romantic awkwardness, the stunningly plausible shift jerks us and Noa in a different direction. Additional supporting work is provided by Dayo Okeniyi as an initially helpful bartender whose recognition of horror film tropes prevent him from taking any heroic action, and Charlotte Le Bon as a surprise addition to the proceedings. But it's the performances and the twisted chemistry of Ms. Edgar-Jones and Mr. Stan that allows the premise to work and Act 3 to not quite slip into full blown absurdity. Without giving anything else away, I can admit that this referendum on dating and people, presented as a horror film, struck me as a blend of PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020), GET OUT (2017), and a personal favorite, EATING RAOUL (1982).

Streaming exclusively on HULU beginning March 4, 2022.

This is one of those films that actually has a really really interesting and out of left field twist that works in part.....

...however the longer the film goes on the more silly, uninteresting and just plan dull the film gets. It needed a big ending and we didn't really get that sadly. It ends the way you thought it was going to end.

Fantastic build up until then though, the first 45 minutes to an hour are really good!! Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones have great chemistry on screen but its not enough to keep me engaged towards the end.

I will probably forget about this film and never watch it again, which is a shame!! It just needed one more reveal or twist towards the last 30 minutes and it might have stuck the landing........however that didn't happen, played it safe with the victims being saved. Which is odd considering the rest of the film isn't safe whatsoever!

60% out of 100 its ok but had potential to me much much better than that!

This film had so much going for it. There's solid casting and acting, a well developed revenge plot, potential for nuanced social commentary, and even a decent soundtrack. I think it was ultimately let down by the editing, or the writers vision wasn't fully realized. It's one of those movies that starts strong, but as you watch it unravel you can't help but focus on where it goes awry. Overall it was a satisfying and slightly disturbing revenge flick, but it leaves a bitter taste.

Fresh stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastion Stan and Jonica T. Gibbs, and is directed by Mimi Cave in her directorial debut.

It tells the story of 20-something, Noa, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, trying to navigate the modern dating world. After a disappointing dating experience, she happens upon the charming, charismatic, seemingly harmless Steve, played by Sebastian Stan, who takes her on holiday to his fortress-like summer home very early in their relationship, where he holds her and several other women captive in order to harvest their flesh to sell to rich male consumers.

Barely ever has a movie got me so into it and loving it in the first act, only to fall into something that I thought was really stupid in the final act. The first half hour is masterful. Before a belated title card and opening credits, not unlike The Empty Man, the opening scene is her on a date with someone, where any and every awkward and unpleasant moment of a date gone wrong is shown to us in such an astutely cringey way that it's genius. The film is then paced excellently, as she meets Steve, they get to know each other, we meet her sassy best friend, played by Jonica T. Gibbs, all leading to one of the better drink-spiking scenes I've seen in a movie.

The final act then becomes a barrage of plot holes, predictable moments, and oddly inconsistent character behaviour. There's a bartender character who was completely unnecessary to even be in the movie, and when he has the opportunity to do something useful at Steve's summer home, he gets scared and leaves. There are little moments of violence that seemed brashly childish and unsubtle, and whereas the scathing humour of the nightmares of dating in the first act actually worked, the darkly sadistic humour in the final act fell flat on its face (sometimes literally).

Steve's main objective of harvesting the meat of women is to sell the meat to mega rich male cannibals (the 1% of the 1% as Steve calls the market), who pay a hefty dollar to consume these decadent delicacies. There is an interesting comment to be made there along the lines of: men who have everything, who have endless resources at their disposal, who are untouchable, who have no doubt done terrible things to get where they are - what more can they do to brandish their endless power? Perhaps the only thing left is to literally consume the meat of women to fulfill their unfulfillable, extravagant lives. There could be a criticism to be made on the mega rich 1% - when is enough enough, or is it ever enough? But the film just doesn't go there.

It's an impressive directing debut, Mimi Cave has a distinct vision and style, and I'm keen to see what she does next. But the silliness of the final act, and the missed opportunity to really say something about the mega rich brought this one down for me.

Cannibal theme in another form. I am SO tired of fresh faced young 20 somethings being paired with 40 year old men in dating scenarios. It rings false from the start, no matter how hot Sebastian may be. The plot requires the woman to be incredibly stupid to get herself in a "situation". And it was written by a woman, even worse! It passes the time, but not quickly enough.

The first scene was a little funny, maybe like 5 minutes, but the rest of the movie was pretty much horror. I don't know why comedy is listed at all? Maybe they think eating people is finny> This movie was pretty brutal and gory. Acting was good and ok story. I don't understand why people comment on woke stuff and politics and so on. It's a horror movie and just review it as such.

Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs) are single best friends in the city. Noa is getting tired after another bad date. When she meets Steve (Sebastian Stan), she decides to give it one more shot but that's a mistake.

It's a bit slow at the start. The bad date is more cliche than funny. It takes thirty minutes to get to the opening credits. This needs to get to the point a bit faster. Through it all, I do love the doey-eyed acting of Daisy Edgar-Jones. Sebatian Stan does well playing both ends of the spectrum. I would like for the girls to finish him off sooner but they never do in this type of movies. It's a fine midnight madness movie but it could have pushed harder.