Delayed Reaction: Fresh

Premise: A woman discovers her new boyfriend has an appetite for more than she’s willing to offer.

 

The challenge with a movie like Fresh is guessing how much to say. It’s a Sundance movie, so I have no idea how it will be released. Will Fresh even stay the title. How much will the pitch of the movie give away? I know for me the thrill was seeing the movie reveal itself. I like to go into these Sundance movies knowing as little as possible. It’s the only time I get to see any movies unspoiled by any expectations. Is Fresh going to be a coming-of-age dramedy? Is it a sweet romance? Is it a nefarious toxic love story? Is it a complete misdirect into horror? I should’ve expected something, given that it was from the Midnight portion of Sundance, generally meant for horror, genre, and dark comedy. Ultimately, I’m landing on the theory that no one is getting all the way to this blog without having done some level of independent research on the movie already. So, spoiler alert, I guess.

 

30 minutes into Fresh I laughed with delight. That’s how long it took to get to the opening credits. That’s how long it took for the movie to reveal itself. I really loved that. I figured something wasn’t right about this meet-cute and fast relationship between Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan, and I love that the movie took its time to confirm that. Watching this was the same thrill as watching From Dusk Till Dawn the first time. Director Mimi Cave is essentially saying “Sure, I could make this kind of movie, but I’d rather make this other kind of movie instead.” And she does both well. Those 30-minutes-in credits really worked for me too. It’s such a confidence movie. I didn’t even think about how there weren’t any credits before that. Then when I realized the credits were happening my only thought was “You earned that”.

 

That’s not to say the opening is a complete shift in tone. Early on, we see plenty of the dangers and annoyances Daisy Edgar-Jones runs into in modern dating. Sebastian Stan eventually abducting her is the worst-case scenario for all the fears she’s carrying with her from the beginning. The twist that he’s harvesting her for meat is almost treated like it’s something she was foolish not to look out for.

 

The captivity portion of the movie loses a little steam, I’ll admit. I like Sebastian Stan, but he’s not an ideal Patrick Bateman character. It feels like he’s trying to be menacing, whereas a Christian Bale just is menacing in his composure. And the revelation about his network of clients is a little uninspired. The “1 percent of the 1 percent” line lacked much insight. I don’t get the sense that the writer (Lauryn Kahn) was that interested in the question of who his clients were, so I’d rather she just left that as a mystery. I believe there would be a market for this. No need to show me them getting the packages.

 

I do love where the movie examines the psychology of his victims. That Charlotte Le Bon eventually married Stan and even helped him is fascinating. I don’t need them to get more in her head than they do, so that was perfect. And I’ve gone too long without talking about Daisy Edgar-Jones. She’s terrific throughout. I love her as someone annoyed by all the indignities of dating early on. Her dark sense of humor helps her once she’s imprisoned, especially when she’s deceiving Stan late. Between this and Normal People, she’s rapidly moving up my “actors I need to look out for who I also just like to look at” rankings.

 

I love how playful this movie is. There’s the great game of the opening. It sneaks in a delightful red herring late in the movie with the bartender investigating things. It wasn’t until a few minutes after I finished the movie that I realized he really did just drive away when he heard gunfire. Which is hilarious. This movie keeps growing on me the last few days.

 

Side Note: I think Daisy Edgar-Jones might be in that Zoey Deutch category of “Actresses who fit better with people 10 years older than her”. She is 23 and looks 23, but she makes more sense on screen as a friend of Aubrey Plaza than Kiernan Shipka. That and the fact that Sebastian Stan has a somewhat boyish face is why their 16-year age gap doesn’t read that much on screen. To me at least.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend