Direction: Mimi Cave
Country: USA
Mimi Cave’s first feature film, Fresh, may have a few great shots, but it’s definitely not a great horror movie. Struggling with conflicting vibes and manipulative flippancy, the film doesn’t do justice to its title, often bordering on the silly rather than the psychologically scary. Cave, who works from a script by Lauryn Kahn, aims for a cult veneer with terrible dialogue and an oscillating tone that wavers uncertainly between inane comedy and blunt violence.
The story follows Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones in her second big-screen appearance, following Pond Life), an unmarried young woman who practices boxing and hates dating. She has had terrible experiences with dating apps lately, but when unexpectedly approached by Steve (Sebastian Stan), a charming plastic surgeon, she couldn’t resist him. He seems a nice, funny man, but a romantic weekend getaway will unveil his freaky business.
Unfortunately, the cruder the story grows, the less stimulating it becomes, no matter how efficiently crafted some scenes may look. The only comfort I could find here was to see three women kicking the ass of the Prince Charming who kept abusing them. With Stan delivering a painfully inept performance, Fresh, which listed Adam McKay (The Big Short, 2015; Don’t Look Up, 2021) as co-producer, becomes a largely unappetizing stew that feels oddly inconsistent and skimpy in texture. Not my type of delicacy in every way.
