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With romance callously sliced up into right and left swipes, dating has long been an undignified concept in the online world. You could even call it a meat market—sure, it’s a clichéd phrase, but what cliché isn’t rooted in some truth?

In debuting director Mimi Cave ’s entertaining and bonkers satirical horror “ Fresh ,” Noa knows all about the losers on the bland menu of her endless app scrolls—it’s understandable that she has lost her taste for kissing the frogs. Still, our modern West Coaster—charismatically played by “Normal People” breakout Daisy Edgar-Jones —refuses to give up optimism and puts herself out there courageously, scarf-wearing douche-y dudes be damned! It’s through her sweet hopefulness that she passes on countless faux-cool profile photos during one such evening of mindless browsing, and reaches out to someone sporting a cute dog picture as his avatar. But what thanks does she get for her curiosity? Nothing, just a gross dick picture sent by your average creeper.

We get introduced to Noa in a pitch-perfect opening scene during a horrendous date with one of those aforesaid scarf-wearers. A cheapskate (“Bring cash,” he reminds Noa before the date even takes place), Chad chews his noodles while spewing all sorts of stomach-churning vitriol. “You would look great in a dress,” he rudely tells the sweater-donned Noa, putting her down for not being into femininity “like the women of his parents’ generation.” He insults their waitress with blatant racism. He feels entitled enough to grab all the leftovers, not hold the door for Noa (What happened to all that “parents’ generation” talk?) and calls her a stuck-up bitch when his reach for a kiss doesn’t get reciprocated. So can you really blame Noa for rapidly buying into the grand gestures of Sebastian Stan ’s traditional charmer Steve on the heels of this disastrous evening and falling to bed with him?

You can’t—hey, it’s the ever-appealing Stan we’re talking about—but you are allowed to raise a slight eyebrow when this practical woman completely trusts a perfect stranger she only just met at a supermarket aisle, by allowing him to whisk her away to a surprise weekend getaway to an unknown location. Thankfully, her droll, bisexual best-friend Mollie (a terrific Jojo T. Gibbs) who seems to have given up on men completely, has much sharper instincts. No social media footprint? Not even an Instagram page as someone who claims to be a plastic surgeon? To Mollie, these are all red flags.

They will seem shady enough to the viewers too, thanks to Lauryn Kahn ’s zippy script and Cave’s visual language that, in unison, suggest enough of an unease beneath Steve’s casual allure. To the careful ear, “I don’t eat animals” from his lips will ring one or two alarm bells. (Why not just say, “I’m a vegetarian?”) Other clues will hint shades of this mystery man’s unusual tastebuds, too. But it’s not until the title card “Fresh” appears more than 30 minutes into the film that they will be spelled out for all their grotesqueness. (Speaking of late-emerging title cards, if “ Drive My Car ” was a bridge too far for you in that department, wait until “Fresh” sneakily asserts, “Hold my Old Fashioned!”)

While the surprising twist from this point on is what’s sickly fun about “Fresh,” it’s near-impossible to talk about this movie without spoiling it to some degree. So read everything below at your own risk, knowing that your first-time experience with the film will be irreparably altered if you do so. Here it goes: Steve is in fact a cold-blooded liar as well as a cannibal, satisfying the needs of his ridiculously rich human-flesh-eating clientele by selling them processed female meat. Noa is just the latest one of his victims who has taken the bait. But something seems to be different about his approach to her, as she quickly learns through cell-to-cell inmate banter in the ruthless Bluebeard’s dungeon. He seems to actually like Noa, and maybe there is a way for her to use her infectious smile and enchanting femininity to outsmart this serial killer.

I’m making it all sound a lot more serious than it actually is. Know that the irresistibility of “Fresh” lies in the fact that it doesn’t take itself too seriously—all things considered, the film manages to stay light on its feet with its “Hostel” meets “ Ex Machina ” concept, mostly avoiding overt, self-righteous preachiness in its moderately-feminist tale where women’s bodies are perishable commodity. In this regard, Cave and her cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski (a repeat Ari Aster collaborator) offer up a buffet of outlandishly gross but brightly lit visual tidbits of men savoring their pricey meals, keeping the mood nimble and wacky. Still, a huge part of the credit belongs to Stan, who goes all in on a maniacal performance that’s often laugh-out-loud funny, even when the actor leans a bit heavily towards Christian Bale ’s “ American Psycho ” mannerisms on occasion. (Two fiendishly comical scenes accompanied by Peter Cetera ’s “Restless Heart” and Animotion’s “ Obsession ” come to mind.) Gibbs is also the film’s secret weapon—while her character is dangerously close to a stock “supportive black best friend” on the page, Gibbs defies the clichés and claims Mollie as her own.

Still, the interpretation of race in “Fresh” leaves a lot to be desired—there is something to be said about a carelessly privileged white woman dragging her savvy black friend into harm’s way. Also under-explored are the motivations of Charlotte Le Bon ’s Ann—as Steve’s wife (and possibly one of his former victims), this self-interest-focused white traitor clearly feels no responsibility towards her own gender, an idea that Kahn’s script only vaguely teases and then abandons in its untidy (and increasingly gory) final act. But perhaps these are concerns for a meatier film. In the meantime, allow the tongue-in-cheek “Fresh” to satisfy your appetite for a generous helping of heartening sisterhood and eradicate your cravings for a juicy burger, possibly forever.

On Hulu today. 

Tomris Laffly

Tomris Laffly is a freelance film writer and critic based in New York. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), she regularly contributes to  RogerEbert.com , Variety and Time Out New York, with bylines in Filmmaker Magazine, Film Journal International, Vulture, The Playlist and The Wrap, among other outlets.

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Film credits.

Fresh (2022)

Rated R for strong and disturbing violent content, some bloody images, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity.

117 minutes

Daisy Edgar-Jones as Noa

Sebastian Stan as Steve

Jonica T. Gibbs as Mollie

Andrea Bang as Penny

Dayo Okeniyi as Paul

Charlotte Le Bon as Ann

Brett Dier as Chad

• Lauryn Kahn

Cinematographer

• Pawel Pogorzelski
• Martin Pensa
• Alex Somers

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Daisy edgar-jones and sebastian stan in ‘fresh’: film review | sundance 2022.

Mimi Cave's horror thriller is about a young woman who falls for a dashing doctor only to discover he's hiding a stomach-churning secret.

By Angie Han

Television Critic

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Broken down into its constituent parts, there’s much about Fresh that seems familiar. You might see Promising Young Woman in screenwriter Lauryn Kahn’s scathing commentary on the horrors of modern dating, or Get Out in her shrewd use of horror tropes to amplify them. There are shades of American Psycho in its acid sense of humor, and Hannibal in its taste for luxury.

But director Mimi Cave, in her feature directorial debut, corrals these influences into a film that lives up to its title. If Fresh stumbles on the way to its own finish line, it’s still a hell of a way to launch a career.

Release date: Friday, March 4 Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Midnight) Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jojo T. Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, Andrea Bang, Dayo Okeniyi Director: Mimi Cave Screenwriter: Lauryn Kahn

The first act of Fresh plays more or less like a rom-com. Just when Noa ( Daisy Edgar-Jones of Hulu’s Normal People ) decides she’s fed up with dating, she meets Steve ( Sebastian Stan ), a handsome plastic surgeon who shares her taste for Old Fashioneds and dark jokes. (On their first date, they toast ironically to the fact that both of them have dead parents.)

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It may not be true love — Noa declares herself too hardened to believe in such things — but it feels like a genuine connection. So she lets herself indulge in what her best friend Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs) quite reasonably describes as “the straight girl’s fantasy come true,” and agrees to let Steve whisk her away to a romantic getaway in the woods.

At this point, over half an hour into the 114-minute film, the other shoe drops. The eerie opening credits roll — white text warping over disorienting close-ups of floors, paintings and what looks like pools of fresh blood — and Fresh reveals itself as the horror story it truly is.

Fresh is more fun without spoilers, but it’s not especially difficult to guess what Steve’s terrible secret is. If the wink-wink wordplay in the official plot synopsis doesn’t give it away, Kahn’s script and Cave’s visual approach drop plenty of hints long before Steve comes out with it. It’s a testament to the ballsiness of Kahn’s script, though, that Steve’s sick motives are just the tip of the iceberg. The real narrative shocks lay in how they manifest, and the gruesome consequences that ripple from them.

As Steve, Stan gives one of the most arresting performances of his career. In early scenes, he’s an eminently reasonable romantic lead — the kind of guy you totally believe could get a girl’s number at the grocery store with a cutesy anecdote about Cotton Candy grapes. But it’s when the character’s true nature is revealed that Stan rises to his full potential, channeling Patrick Bateman while dancing to Animotion’s “Obsession” in his kitchen or monologuing to an unfortunately captive audience.

That Edgar-Jones is able to maintain her footing against such unhinged charisma is a feat in itself. Even backed into the most desperate of corners, her Noa projects some inner reservoir of strength and wit that keeps the viewer from ever losing sight of the real hero.

The true star of Fresh , however, is its style — lush, unsettling and precise. Cave’s camera can be a ruthless killer. In keeping with the film’s themes about consumption and commodification, it frequently fragments human bodies into incomplete collections of parts: a mouth wrapping around a morsel of food, fingertips caressing a neck in the shower, legs pounding the pavement during a run.

When it zooms out, it luxuriates in saturated colors and rich textures, often to unnerving effect. Fresh has no shortage of gory, gleefully explicit imagery, but it also throws the viewer off balance in quieter ways. It can provoke queasiness by juxtaposing two strong but clashing colors, or claustrophobia by filling a room with too much of a single shade. Paired with a soundtrack that combines ’80s synth-pop, indie rock and electronica, Fresh is almost overwhelming as a sensory experience.

It’s as a narrative that Fresh falls a bit short. Fresh ‘s central allegory is a clever one, and the horror story that spins out from it never less than gripping. But the film settles for reiterating its core ideas in more and more dramatic terms, rather than deepening or expanding them. Then, just when Fresh threatens to run out of steam, the final 20 minutes devolve into utter chaos — as if, having no idea how to end Noa’s story, the filmmakers threw up their hands and decided to do everything all at once in hopes something would work.

In addition to the protracted violence one might expect from a horror finale, there are screamed insults, multiple chases through multiple sets, one character who knows all too well what happens to horror movie characters in their situations, a different character making exactly the kind of rookie mistake that sends horror fans howling at their screen and a kicker that underlines the metaphor one more time for good measure. None of it is subtle, and not all of it makes much sense. But regarded as a whole, Fresh is a success — a taste of its creative talents’ abilities that leave the viewer hungry for more.

Full credits

Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Midnight) Distributor: Searchlight Pictures Production company: Legendary Entertainment, Hyperobject Industries Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jojo T. Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, Andrea Bang, Dayo Okeniyi Director: Mimi Cave Screenwriter: Lauryn Kahn Producers: Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, Maeve Cullinane Executive producers: Lauryn Kahn, Ron Mcleod Cinematographer: Pawel Pogorzelski Production designer: Jennifer Morden Editor: Martin Pensa Music: Alex Somers

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‘Fresh’ Review: Sebastian Stan Is Captivating as Charismatic Maniac in Sleek and Stylish Horror Debut

Natalia winkelman.

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022  Sundance Film Festival. Searchlight Films releases the film on Hulu on Friday, March 4.

About thirty minutes into “Fresh,” a deliciously jangly horror movie, the opening credits roll. Up until then, the movie, which premiered in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival, unfolds like an edgy romantic comedy. In the opening scene, Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones, with a bite) shows up for an app date, which turns out to be a dud: A vain cheapskate who’s brusque with the waiter, the guy tells Noa between bites of their meal that her sweater looks shlumpy and a dress would suit her better. Reading the disagreeable signs, Noa bids him a polite goodbye, but not before Mr. Conceited Civility, upon rejection, can shout, “Good luck finding a guy, you stuck up bitch.”

This sort of bait-and-switch becomes a key ingredient in “Fresh,” Mimi Cave’s classy and clever feature directorial debut. Written by Lauryn Kahn, the movie is framed as a parable of the anxieties of modern dating, of how truly impossible it can feel for (straight) women to catch a break. It’s a familiar setup, and one that’s vulnerable to the traps of heavy-handedness and cliche. But unlike recent predecessors — “Promising Young Woman” and the short story “Cat Person” come to mind — “Fresh” doesn’t wholly aspire to be a feminist arrow to the heart of today’s heterosexual dating scene. More so, it uses its central idea as fodder for stylish black comedy. Where “Promising Young Women” tended to feel labored and clumsy, “Fresh” is sleek and nimble, a worthy new entry into the feminist revenge thriller genre.

Many of the movie’s comic pleasures are thanks to Sebastian Stan , who, invitingly clean-cut and bashful, plays a Texan surgeon named Steve whom Noa meets and exchanges endearing conversation with in an unlikely place: the produce aisle of the grocery store. “I didn’t think people met people in real life anymore,” Noa marvels later, gushing about the meet-cute to her best friend, Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs). Even so, early dates with Steve go well, and Noa grows cautiously excited. When her new paramour asks for a weekend getaway together, Noa graciously accepts. Has she finally struck gold? It’s here that we reach the opening credits, and the movie spins into nail-biting suspense and terror.

At this point in the movie, Mollie seems to be getting the short end of the stick. Noa’s best (and seemingly only) friend, Mollie is Black and queer, a token sidekick character whose personal life, job, and dating prospects we learn almost nothing about — though we do know that she’s prone to too-loudly encouraging Noa to “get that D.”

But as the story continues, and Steve — no surprise here — turns out not to be the sweet guy he promised, both Mollie and Noa’s characters are given space to deepen. Edgar-Jones, who most notably played Marianne on Hulu’s “Normal People,” is an absorbing screen presence, taking a role that could’ve been played as dopey — the romance cynic who falls for the gentleman — and injecting it with a quiet psychological intensity. Mollie, too, becomes a character to root for independently, which is at least better than only existing as a cheerleader for her sensitive white bestie. In one scene, after Mollie can’t reach Noa for several days, she tells a Black friend that she’s worried but is reluctant to involve police in her search. “Why? She’s white, right?” he jokes in response. Mollie rolls her eyes knowingly.

But as far as performances go, it’s Stan who gets the most time to shine. Dancing around the kitchen lip-syncing to oldie pop songs or just cutting up juicy red meat for dinner, Steve sparkles with smarmy, maniacal energy, like a kind of sophisticated Tyler Durden who’s traded fight clubs for business ventures. He can play the nice guy, but beneath the chivalry he’s hungry for power, and seizes onto it like a snarling dog with a bone.

The movie is also handsomely shot. Settings are depicted in rich dark hues and feature a modern, minimalistic design aesthetic punctuated by slabs of stone and concrete. Cave has an imaginative sense of camera placement, and she’s an expert at inserting ultra-close-up shots at precisely the right moment to induce a laugh, gasp, or shiver. Her camera is always in service of the story, rather than distracting from it with artifice. That’s not to say that there aren’t visual jokes — there are, frequently — but to give them away here would be to spoil the fun.

Except for a couple of on-the-nose lines, “Fresh” wisely chooses show over tell. At the end of the bad-date opening scene, as Noa is walking dejectedly back to her car, she notices a shadowy figure approaching. She fumbles with her keys, hoping to have a form of self defense in case of emergency. Suddenly, the figure enters the light of a lamppost — and is revealed to be a smiling father with his kid in a baby carrier. Sometimes, “Fresh” seems to say, a supposed threat turns out to be nothing. Then again, sometimes it’s not.

“Fresh” premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it on Hulu on March 4.

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Review: Horror gets a complete and undoubtedly satisfying reworking in ‘Fresh’

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There’s something about a horror film that takes pride in being a horror film. “Fresh,” the debut feature from longtime music video director Mimi Cave, knows this and plays with genre in a way that is devilish and delightful — and never from a place of posturing.

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Noa, a woman who has seen the highs and lows (particularly the lows) of dating, from unsolicited pics of guys’ genitalia to indoor-scarf-wearing Chads . When she serendipitously meets the sincere and charming Steve ( Sebastian Stan ) — in the produce aisle of a grocery store, of all places — things seem almost too good to be true, with her best friend, Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs), dubiously remarking, “It’s a straight girl’s fantasy come true!”

While the film’s first 30 minutes set up the modern horrors of dating for the 30-something set and the expected redemptive narrative arc, “Fresh” upends itself (and its audience) with a sudden tonal shift that resolutely punctures the story world we knew, setting into motion instead a horror film that confidently refreshes generic conventions.

With a sharply energetic script from comedy screenwriter Lauryn Kahn , “Fresh” willfully borrows from both comedy and horror in a way that destabilizes the use of each. It flirts not only with total disruption of audience expectation, but also with the boundaries of obscenity as it lands beat after beat of light-on-its-feet humor within a story world that is in all ways macabre. As too does its visual style, which is just as playful, amorphous and intentional as its script.

While both stylish and mischievous, it also knows when to pull back, allowing for moments of vulnerability and a chance to sit with Steve’s horrific nature. In comparison to a film like “I, Tonya” (coincidentally another Stan vehicle), “Fresh,” despite its consistent boundary-pushing, knows how to use its visual style and tone effectively. Here, violence against women is not reveled in, or embellished by an all-too-gleeful cinematography, but rather it rejects certain forms of visual spectacle (while leaning wholeheartedly into others) in a way that stands with, even cheers for, its women characters.

While we are absolutely witness to the gruesome and grotesque here — this is certainly not a film for the faint of heart — “Fresh” knows exactly when and when not to push into its own lurid nature. As the film’s final act ramps up, it is aware that its own stakes are too high not to invest full-heartedly in its final girls. Just as the film knows we are able to delight in the comic heights of Stan’s fantastically rendered Steve, it recognizes that we would take even more pleasure in the downfall of such a despicable man.

“Fresh,” without a doubt, has a bounty of vision and personality, but it’s also a wonderful study in an almost rabid compartmentalization in terms of its story world, its characters and its viewers. It asks us to laugh in the most hideous of situations and to humanize the inhumane without losing sight of its own call for not just rightful vengeance but collectivity. It doesn’t just offer up the most palatable aspects of horror as a genre; instead, it pushes it to its limits through a complete, and undoubtedly satisfying, reworking.

'Fresh'

Rated: R, for strong and disturbing violent content, some bloody images, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes Playing: Available March 4 on Hulu

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Fresh review – modern dating is hell in sly and gory thriller

Director Mimi Cave makes a ferocious debut with a darkly comic horror about a woman who discovers her new beau has a terrible secret

T here’s a specific cruelty to modern dating, a seemingly unending grind of gut-punching disappointment and hurt, something that’s easily judged and lampooned by those no longer in the game but something that’s really only understood by those still playing. In first-time director Mimi Cave’s rattling debut Fresh, Noa (Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones) is exhausted. In a believably odious first scene first date, she’s informed by her indoor scarf-wearing match that women are no longer as feminine as they should be, in all these comfy over-sized clothes, as he monologues to her about his passion for hot sauce. She leaves with a familiar eye-roll (he calls her a stuck-up bitch, natch) forced back to swiping for love but instead, being met with more unsolicited dick pics. It’s enough to make even the most romantic of romantics admit defeat.

When she meets Steve (Sebastian Stan) in the fresh produce aisle of the local supermarket, she’s caught off-guard by his charm, a handsome, keen and emotionally available stranger who talks as much as he listens. They begin dating and while her best friend Molly (Jojo T Gibbs) is alarmed by his lack of social media presence – a red flag in the 2020s, surely? – Noa allows herself to slowly believe that maybe she’s finally getting what she deserves.

Steve surprises her with a weekend away but first, with traffic shifting their journey to morning, she’ll get to see his place for the first time. Remote and expansive (“This is intimidating,” she remarks), she can’t believe her luck. But after a few sips of an old-fashioned, Noa starts to feel woozy. Before she has time to process, it’s lights out and that’s just the first in a series of nasty surprises.

The believable meet-cute first act takes place entirely, audaciously, before the opening credits, a sweet 30-minute romcom that quickly switches up to reveal something sour, like biting into a succulent peach that’s rotten on the inside. It would be a spoiler, I believe, to detail exactly what the big reveal is although Cave gives us ample warning signs: the title, the location of the initial meet, the references to food … the general nature of it isn’t a surprise but the specifics are, a bracingly nasty rug-pull detailed with chilling normality.

While Fresh can be easily filed a part of the boom in “social thrillers”, exploding post the extraordinary success of Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning Get Out, it’s one of the few that manages to grip us without the use of a heavy hand. What screenwriter Lauryn Kahn and Cave realise is that first and foremost, this is a genre movie, and rather than waste time patting themselves on the back for making clumsy “but this is really about” commentary, they’re too busy trying to make our palms sweat and our pulses race. While some of the plot details might skirt close to B-movie absurdity, Fresh exists in a real world with real people, rules and stakes. So when terrible things happen, we’re not dealing with just a surface wound. Kahn doesn’t take short cuts with her characters who, for the most part, avoid easily written yet hard-to-stomach behaviour.

What might be a little harder to stomach for some though is just how queasily grotesque parts of the film are, whether we see the gore up close or not, but there’s something fitting about just how unapologetically gnarly it all is. Because such in-your-face exposure makes sense here. For many of us, and especially for women, dating apps and dating culture can be violently revealing, exposing people’s worst impulses and most selfish desires, and the film takes particular issue with how women’s bodies are judged, shared and abused. It’s a brutal snapshot but Kahn avoids disappearing into the but-what-next gloom of Promising Young Woman, which left us lost in hopelessness . There’s a similar war being fought here, between violent masculinity and the women trying to survive it, but there’s more to say than just: everyone is the worst. Fresh makes its point without feeling the need to bludgeon us in the process.

Cave, best known for her music video work, keeps us in the moment without drowning us in poppy, over-styled otherness. She’s a deft orchestrator of suspense (expect any wise studio exec to be pestering her agent with calls immediately) but she also wants us to be part of it rather than watching at a distance and so using Edgar-Jones, a warm and empathetic yet spiky actor, is a masterstroke. She plays Noa as many women have to play themselves on the scene: vulnerable to not seem too standoffish to men craving someone to take care of but with enough steel to protect herself if needed. She sells every gruelling beat and her hot-and-cold chemistry with Stan, leaning into his dark side well, is one of the film’s major sources of propulsion.

If the frenzied last act makes a few missteps (some decisions are a little questionable, Gibbs disappears for a little too long and one of the final quips is awkwardly on-the-nose), it’s all so thrillingly edge-of-seat that such quibbles are forgiven. For those who like their dating movies with a bit of gristle, Fresh is a perfect match.

Fresh screened at the Sundance film festival and is available on Hulu in the US on 4 March and on 18 March on Disney+

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Sundance Review: Daisy Edgar-Jones And Sebastian Stan in ‘Fresh’

By Pete Hammond

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SPOILER ALERT:  This review may contain details you might want to avoid if you want see Fresh with completely fresh eyes.

Take a bite out of  Sweeney Todd,  a bit of  The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, throw in a little torture porn, some 50 Shades of Grey,   and top it all off with some delicious Hannibal Lecter and you have a recipe for a look at the horrors (literally) of dating, circa right about now. These are the ingredients screenwriter Lauryn Kahn and director Mimi Cave seem to be craving in Fresh, which debuted Thursday on the first night of the Sundance Film Festival as part of its Midnight movies lineup. Searchlight picked up the film through Legendary Pictures and will premiere it on Hulu on March 4. It could have a promising run in theaters as well since horror is one of the few genres still gaining traction during the pandemic, but this gruesome side dish of terror may be just an acquired taste,  turning off as many as it turns on.

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Definitely written slyly with a female POV, it isn’t really until the last act that the revenge moments start taking hold, a formula we have seen recently in other female-fronted suspense thrillers like last year’s Best Original Screenplay winner Promising Young Woman  and 2020’s  The Invisible Man  with Elisabeth Moss taking the reins. It actually starts out like any other romantic comedy as we watch Noa ( Daisy Edgar-Jones of  Normal People ) suffering through a first date with a real drip and obnoxious guy. When she tells him after their dinner that it isn’t going to work out he calls her a bitch, says she is not his type, and storms off. Noa just isn’t lucky in love, and not fond of the dating games as she tells her best friend Mollie (a lively Jojo T. Gibbs).

Lo and behold, an ordinary trip to the supermarket though is where she meets cute with a guy named Steve ( Sebastian Stan ) who comes off as a real charmer when they bond over grapes. He asks for her number and in no time they have landed in the sack — clearly a budding romance is blooming. When he suggests they get away for the weekend to a spot he keeps as a surprise she is so smitten she says yes. Soon they arrive at his lavishly designed private getaway where on the first night he keeps spiking the wine for her. As she descends into a fog and finally passes out, the opening credits roll about 25 minutes into the movie. The following hour and half are a completely  different flick altogether.

So without going into gross detail (a warning appears at the beginning that the film contains gore and violence), it turns out good ‘ol Steve just ain’t what she thought, and in fact has an unusual appetite for  women. In fact as we will learn he found himself so consumed by women at an early age that he just couldn’t help  consuming  them. Yes, Noa said yes-a when she should have said, uh, no-a.  She has wandered into this guy’s house of horrors and discovers she is not his only potential victim. She should have listened to BFF Mollie’s red-light warning upon learning he had no Instagram account. Failing to get texts from Noa in fact, Mollie goes on the hunt, and that is when things get serious. 

Cave directs skillfully, all with a wry eye and sense of play, and the sexual politics are nicely on display with some sharp observations in the war between men and women, but even Lecter might be repulsed at what goes on here, not just for Steve’s kinky pleasure, but as a business he runs where the customers will clearly set the image of men back a few hundred years. But isn’t that kind of the point? After being slashed and trashed in genre movies almost since Hollywood began, it is actually nice of late to see the tables turned for women when they get a chance to give as good as they get in this kind of thing. Fresh  may not exactly live up to its title as it caves (sorry Mimi) to familiar tropes of the horror genre in its second half, but in playing with the whole theme of consumption in all its meanings Kahn’s outrageous script has points to make.

Edgar-Jones plays it for all its worth, and Stan clearly has taken courses at the Norman Bates School for Psychos. Charlotte Le Bon has a few good moments as a victim who found a way to survive, and Dayo Okeniyi is pretty funny as Mollie’s bartender buddy who wants no part of this sh*t. Producers are Adam McKay and Kevin Messick.

Even though the actual on-screen carnage and carving is kept to a minimum so we just see the end results of Steve’s handiwork, I would strongly caution those with weak stomachs to beware.

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‘Fresh’ Film Review: Sebastian Stan Plays a Mr. Right Who’s All Wrong in Deliciously Creepy Horror Tale

First-time director Mimi Cave takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster, one that’s both thrilling and stomach-churning

This review of “Fresh” was originally posted Jan. 21, 2022 from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

It takes a long, long time before the so-called “opening credits” roll in Mimi Cave’s decadently horrifying directorial debut “Fresh.” That’s probably because, as wonderful as the film’s first act is, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

“Fresh” begins with the latest in what seems to be a long, long line of crappy online dates for Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones, “Normal People”). She hates the modern courtship process — and with good cause —  but, dang it, it’s the 21st century, and her options seem limited to swiping right and hoping for the best or a lifetime of lousy loneliness.

So it’s something of a shock when she actually meets a real live person, in a real-life grocery store, who shows an interest her and doesn’t seem like a total sack of crap. Steve has great taste in produce (yes, cotton candy grapes are real, and they’re fantastic ) . He’s also got a great sense of humor, and he’s a doctor, and he looks just like Sebastian Stan, so he seems like he might be a winner. He even eschews social media because it’s gauche and he’s oh so romantic and he wants to take Noa on a surprise weekend getaway to a mystery location and…

Whoa, red flags. Red flags! Noa’s best friend Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs, “Twenties”) almost derails this whole movie when she points out that, in this day and age, not having any way to track a person’s identity online, coupled with a sudden desire to move to what can only be called “a second location,” is extremely suspicious.

But Edgar-Jones and Stan have such palpable, effortless chemistry, and the nimble script by Lauryn Kahn (“Ibiza”) keeps the warning signs tucked so snuggly beneath a weighted blanket of Noa’s relief from humdrum contemporary dating anxiety, that we don’t look down on her for taking a chance and going away with Steve after all. Maybe everything will be fine! Sure, there’s no cell phone service, but — uh-oh, that’s actually never a good sign.

What happens next may be slightly predictable, if only because we’re in a horror movie, but like James Wan’s awe-inspiring “Malignant,” the real surprise doesn’t stem from the plot. Presentation is what counts. Yes, it’s grotesque. Yes, it’ll make your stomach churn. But best/worst of all, Mimi Cave will not stop trying to recapture the early, whimsical romantic connection between Noa and Steve, to the point that the true discomfort comes not from any mangled flesh but from the film’s continued attempts to make nice with a flesh-mangler.

Structurally, “Fresh” has a lot in common with abduction films like “Misery” and “The Human Centipede,” where the villain’s bizarre obsessions drive the story, and mutilation is a natural (albeit terrifying) extension of their pathology. And like many other films which share some DNA with “Fresh,” it’s the villain who takes center stage. We haven’t seen Sebastian Stan operate on this level of camp showmanship since the climax of Renny Harlin’s “The Covenant.” He’s appealing when he takes himself seriously. He’s a movie star when he gets to have fun.

Daisy Edgar-Jones has a more complex assignment. She must endure grotesque indignities while, in defiance of all her better instincts, making nice with a total creep. And the creep is no fool. The only way to convince him that she’s into his bizarre fetishes is to be so convincing that the audience starts to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she actually is. That’s another level of gruesome that “Fresh” throws on the tower of terrors, just in case anyone thought it wasn’t high enough.

Cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski should be a household name by now for horror enthusiasts, having developed morbidly absorbing yet dynamically opposed visions for both “Hereditary” and “Midsommar.” His work in “Fresh” captures the intimate appeal of a romantic comedy, the stark isolation of a kidnapping thriller, and a fantastical representation of gore that tries, in a truly unnerving way, to make it look as appealing as Steve thinks it is. There’s nothing more gross than gross-with-a-garnish.

“Fresh” raises quite a few questions it never bothers to answer, unless of course a sequel is in the cards, but its power doesn’t come from its plot. Like the best first dates, and the best midnight movies, it all comes down to personality. Mimi Cave knows how to captivate and how to repulse, usually at the same time. She knows how to make us laugh and hate ourselves for laughing. “Fresh” is a breakneck emotional roller coaster, and like many roller coasters, it’ll also make your stomach churn.

“Fresh” is now streaming on Hulu.

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Fresh Reviews

“Fresh” is a stylish, uncompromising, and surprisingly artistic depiction of endemic exploitation, the ubiquity of toxic masculinity, and perseverance.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2023

Watch it for the great performances, but don’t expect to be blown away.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 1, 2023

A raw, nasty, horrifying, but electrifying. A spiraling thriller that continues to twist all the way up to the end. Daisy Jones is INCREDIBLE & Sebastian Stan turns in his best performance yet.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

Mimi Cave delivers an extraordinarily captivating, assertive directorial debut; taking Lauryn Kahn's original, gruesome screenplay to the next level (...) holding all of the characteristics to become a cult classic.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 23, 2023

The writing is never offensively straightforward either, yet there are times the script veers toward middle-of-the-road in the face of such an unusual premise and outcome.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 23, 2023

Fresh is an outlandish comedy-thriller that exposes the exaggerated horrors of dating in the digital age. It balances its dark, satirical humor with a lighthearted romance angle and carries unsettling and unpredictable turns throughout.

Full Review | Feb 22, 2023

Mimi Cave’s Hulu horror movie Fresh gives us a new version of the All-American Monster.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Feb 18, 2023

Fresh is about the horrors of dating as a young woman...that itching feeling that something could go wrong, the urge to text someone the address, and the imaginary escape route planned while feigning a smile.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 6, 2023

Fresh may be a little messy at times but it does not detract from this delectable debut from Cave and a solid screenplay from Kahn.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Jan 4, 2023

"While the execution leaves room for minor improvements, Fresh is a highly commendable debut."

Full Review | Nov 19, 2022

The ultimate meat-cute... Fresh is wild, wicked and deliciously entertaining. Just don’t see it on a first date, or else there likely won’t be a second.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2022

Deliciously sinister and delectably unhinged. Sebastian Stan has never been more sizzlingly hot and Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a raw, unguarded, and toothsome performance.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Aug 23, 2022

Undercooked, overseasoned.

Full Review | Aug 8, 2022

Fresh offers the kinds of laughs that make you break off in the middle as you realize where the humor resides. You'll either love it or hate it. 

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 29, 2022

Edgar-Jones’s Noa taps hidden reserves of pluck as she fights for her survival against her deranged captor. She’s a horror heroine you root for all the way to the bloody end.

Full Review | Jul 27, 2022

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan star in this dark comedy-horror that’s subtextually about toxic relationships and the commodification of women, but on the surface is about a relationship with a quirky cannibal gone wrong.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jul 26, 2022

It’s an enjoyable movie, with a firm grasp on genre history, some effectively shocking visuals (the freezer, ugh), and a solid cast.

Full Review | Jun 23, 2022

An absolute triumph. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | May 13, 2022

If you want to see a pretty good rom-com starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan turn into a pretty great satirical horror movie about the commodification of the self through social media and dating apps, point your browser to Disney+ and hit play.

Full Review | Apr 25, 2022

A film that keeps getting called in various directions until none of them offer up any palpable suspense, fun or satire.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 12, 2022

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After quitting dating apps, a woman meets the supposedly perfect man and accepts his invitation to a romantic weekend getaway, only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual... Read all After quitting dating apps, a woman meets the supposedly perfect man and accepts his invitation to a romantic weekend getaway, only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites. After quitting dating apps, a woman meets the supposedly perfect man and accepts his invitation to a romantic weekend getaway, only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites.

• Lauryn Kahn
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• Jojo T. Gibbs
• 523 User reviews
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• 67 Metascore
• 2 wins & 17 nominations

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• Trivia The title of the movie and intro credits don't appear until 33 minutes into the movie.
• Goofs The shots from the back of Noa in her pink dress show no volume difference in her gluteal muscle masses (buttocks).

Steve : It's about giving. Giving yourself over to somebody. Becoming one with somebody else, forever. And that's... That's a beautiful thing. That's surrender. That's love.

• Crazy credits Opening credits are 33 minutes in.
• Connections Featured in Nightmare on Film Street: Nightmare Alley: FRESH Interview with director Mimi Cave and Writer Lauryn Kahn (2022)
• Soundtracks In Your Arms (uncredited) Composed by Andrea Fodor Litkei and Ervin Litkei

User reviews 523

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• Runtime 1 hour 54 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Common sense media reviewers.

Cleverly dark but violent, gruesome horror movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

In its own macabre way, this dark horror movie is

Movie plays with conventions of both serial killer

Diversity in gender, race, sexual orientation. Mov

Movie centers on a woman who is taken prisoner by

Man sends lead character a photo of himself touchi

Strong profanity throughout. "F--k" often used. Al

Lead character's cocktail is drugged by villain, r

Parents need to know that Fresh is a 2022 horror movie in which a single woman discovers that the "nice guy" she has started dating is actually a consumer and seller of human flesh. There's considerable violence: After the lead character is drugged, she wakes up chained in a windowless room. When she tries to…

Positive Messages

In its own macabre way, this dark horror movie is a distinctly feminist comment on violence against women and empowerment.

Positive Role Models

Movie plays with conventions of both serial killer horror movies and the dating life in romcoms. Characters -- for all their strengths in figuring out how to fight back -- don't emerge as positive role models.

Diverse Representations

Diversity in gender, race, sexual orientation. Movie plays with horror movie convention of Black characters usually among the first to be slaughtered. Toxic masculinity is a central theme.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Movie centers on a woman who is taken prisoner by a guy she had started dating, chained up with other women who are slowly being cut up, their flesh turned into meat to be consumed by ultra-wealthy men willing to spend a lot to eat fresh human meat. Lead character's buttock meat is removed. Lead character is drugged before being taken prisoner. During oral sex, a man's penis is bitten off; lots of blood and screaming. Characters shot, stabbed, beaten bloody. After discovering she's chained in a windowless room, lead character asks villain if he's going to rape her. Villain shown slicing human flesh from a limb kept in refrigeration, pounding it with a meat tenderizer, eating some; villain later insists that the lead character sample human flesh as a "delicacy." Close-ups of bloody incisions.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Man sends lead character a photo of himself touching his erect penis via direct messaging on a dating app -- also includes sleazy sexts. Passionate kissing between lead character and a man she starts dating -- implied sex when they wake up next to each other while scantily clad. When lead character tells her best friend about the encounter, the best friend says, "Get that d!" Lead character pretends to be romantically and sexually attracted to villain; they passionately kiss and seem to be on verge of engaging in oral sex when movie takes an even bloodier turn. Brief female nudity (buttocks).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong profanity throughout. "F--k" often used. Also "motherf----r" and "c--t." "P---y," "t-ts," "d--k," "s--t," "bitch," "ass."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Lead character's cocktail is drugged by villain, resulting in her passing out and waking up chained in a windowless room. Cocktail drinking during a date: Characters shown getting tipsy as they get better acquainted. Wine drinking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Fresh is a 2022 horror movie in which a single woman discovers that the "nice guy" she has started dating is actually a consumer and seller of human flesh. There's considerable violence: After the lead character is drugged, she wakes up chained in a windowless room. When she tries to fight back, the villain removes some flesh from her buttocks. While seemingly on the verge of engaging in oral sex, a woman bites off the penis of her partner, her face shown covered in blood as the man shrieks in agony. Limbs are shown hanging in meat lockers. The villain is shown tenderizing human flesh and later forces the lead character to try some, since she has feigned interest as a way to try to escape. Besides the cannibalism, there's horror movie violence as characters shoot, stab, and beat each other until bloody. While on a dating app, the lead character is subjected to an image of a man's erect penis, along with creepy sexts. Strong language throughout includes "f--k," "c--t," and "motherf----r." The movie also has implied sex and passionate kissing as well as cocktail and wine drinking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (6)
• Kids say (14)

Based on 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In FRESH, Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a single woman who's tired of bad dates and creeps on the dating apps. It seems that her luck changes for the better after meeting the charmingly vulnerable Steve ( Sebastian Stan ) at the grocery store. After a date in which they really seem to hit it off, Noa confides in her best friend Mollie that she thinks that she has finally met a great guy, and even tells her that she and Steve are going to go on a weekend getaway. When Steve picks Noa up for the trip, he tells her that they have to stop off at his house first. While hanging out and drinking a cocktail he has made for her, she finds herself getting sleepy and passes out. She then wakes up chained in a windowless room. She soon discovers who Steve really is: a sociopathic cannibal who makes his living selling the meat of living female human flesh on the black market to wealthy men willing to pay top dollar for this "delicacy." Shocked and traumatized, Noa struggles to make sense of her predicament and discovers that other women are also being held prisoner in Steve's house. As Mollie grows increasingly concerned over Noa's whereabouts, Noa must find a way to fight back without incurring Steve's violent and cannibalistic tendencies.

Is It Any Good?

This is a disturbing, dark, and gruesome horror story that keeps the viewer guessing as it plays with the conventions of horror movies and romcoms. Fresh strikes a fine balance between blood and gore, story and message, and unsettling scenes offset by macabre humor. While so many horror movies (and romcoms) lazily plod along down well-trodden paths of clichés and predictability, Fresh reveals itself to be as aware of the tropes as you are (if not more so) and messes with these expectations without being smug about it.

This story of a romcom that goes horrifically and cannibalistically wrong takes an obvious strong feminist point of view as the scares, blood, and gore of the story offer a serious commentary on toxic masculinity and violence against women. The story, acting, and direction keep this message from overwhelming the story through preachiness, and the dark humor helps make the message a little easier to, well, consume. Overall, it's a unique combination of two genres not exactly known for their originality.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the deeper messages behind Fresh . How does the movie use the story to comment on toxic masculinity and violence against women?

How does the movie play with the clichés and expectations of both horror movies and romcoms?

Was the graphic violence excessive, or did it seem necessary both for the story and for the movie's overall message? Why?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : March 4, 2022
• Cast : Daisy Edgar-Jones , Sebastian Stan , Jojo T. Gibbs
• Director : Mimi Cave
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Female actors, Queer actors, Black actors
• Studio : Hulu
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 114 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : Strong and disturbing violent content, some bloody images, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity.
• Last updated : May 8, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Fresh Movie Review: An Intense Thriller That Subverts Expectations

January 23, 2022 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Debuting at Sundance 2022, Mimi Cave's debut full length film Fresh is an intense psychological thriller that breathes new life into the genre. Take your expectations and throw them out the door, Fresh is just that, a fresh look at a dark and twisted corner of society. 

Fresh Movie Review  2022

Fresh begins like any other romantic comedy, a slightly awkward girl Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is sitting through an awful first date with some guy she matched with on an app. Afterwards she tells her best friend Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs) she is over the whole dating scene. Cue the cute grocery store meetup with the attractive and charming Steve (Sebastian Stan). They exchange numbers and end up in bed together. When he suggests a weekend getaway she eagerly agrees, not knowing where exactly they are going. They arrive at this secluded house in the woods that conveniently has terrible service. During the first night he spikes her wine and in a fog she passes out. The credits roll and what follows is an entirely different film than the one portrayed in the first 25 minutes. 

Steve has an unusual appetite for women and Noa is his latest catch. As is the audience, because Fresh lures you in and refuses to let go throughout the entire runtime. Cave deftly subverts all expectations, taking a fresh approach to a trope that is well known. She toys with the tone, presenting playfulness and comedy all the while firmly establishing without a doubt that this is a horror film. This is a nuanced look at the perils of modern dating and the fears women face on a daily basis. The result is a chilling and absolutely exciting foray into the war between men and women.

Part of the reason Fresh is so intoxicating are Cave's directions and Lauryn Kahn's clever script. The camera work is dynamic as it seemingly goes rogue like Steve before snapping into a closeup as a reminder that those delightful 80s style montages are not to be trusted. Cave's directing style that feels playful yet sharp pairs nicely with the equally funny and darkness of Kahn's writing. Her humor may seem a bit morbid but the cast delivers it in a way that you cannot help but laugh. The other reason this movie is phenomenal comes down to the main characters. 

Steve is Sebastian Stan's darkest role yet and he delivers a performance that is equal parts terrifying and intriguing. He is so brilliant in this role, easily changing between Steve's charming and sinister sides, it is impossible to look away. Even when the more grotesque moments occur. Edgar-Jones is fierce as Noa who goes from being unsure of herself to formulating a plan to escape the horrific situation she finds herself in. There is a moment when she breaks down, realizing for the first time what happened to her that will take your breath away. Her portrayal of Noa is a layered one and it is impressive the way she keeps the audience and Steve guessing her true motives until she's ready to reveal them.

True there are many elements of this story that are hardly new, but it is the way in which Cave and Kahn present them that is quite surprising and fascinating. Although Fresh  gives into familiar tropes towards the very end, after everything that occurred before that point it still feels honestly satisfying. After all, it is nice to see the women in this genre take back their lives both figuratively and literally from the men who seek to consume them. 

Thankfully, on-screen gore is kept to a minimum, mostly allowing only a look into the final results of Steve's obsession. However, this film could put you off of meat for a while, or permanently. Weak stomachs beware. 

At the end of the day, Fresh is just that, a fresh new romp through an oftentimes worn-out trope. It is deliciously evil, insanely enjoyable to watch as it takes viewers' expectations and turns them on their heads. Fresh is bound to be an instant classic horror film who's greatness future filmmakers will aspire to. After viewing Cave's incredible handiwork here, she is definitely one to watch in the future. 

Fresh premiered at Sundance this week, and is scheduled to be released on Hulu on March 4. It is Rated R or strong and disturbing violent content, some bloody images, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity with a runtime of 1 hour 54 minutes. 

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Fresh’s Opening Credits Twist Makes Cannibalism More Sick

Fresh's 10 biggest unanswered questions, how fresh subverts the final girl horror movie trope.

• Noa outsmarts cannibal boyfriend Steve in the Fresh ending, flipping the narrative in a twist ending that empowers the victims.
• Steve preys on isolated women without strong ties, illustrating a chilling reality of online dating dangers.
• Fresh 's finale delivers a social commentary on power dynamics, showcasing women banding together for survival.

The Fresh ending explained the subtext of the horror-comedy and how it explores the pitfalls of online dating. Sebastian Stan stars as Steve, the seemingly charming new boyfriend of Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones). Noa is disillusioned by the online dating process. Fresh opens with her on a date with a man she met on an app, who talks down to the waiter, insults her clothes, and even steals the food that he made her pay for herself. She complains to her best friend Mollie (Jonica T. Gibbs) about her lack of success with dating, and Mollie tells her to adopt a " f*ck it " attitude.

Soon after, she meets Steve at the grocery store. They hit it off immediately and start dating, but after she agrees to go on a trip with him, she quickly learns that he has cannibalistic urges. Steve kidnaps women and cuts off pieces of their bodies to sell as meat, keeping them alive as long as possible to " keep the meat fresh ." Noa, Mollie, and Penny ( Kim's Convenience star Andrea Bang ), another of Steve's victims, must fight for their lives to escape from him by the time the Fresh ending arrives.

Fresh Cast & Character Guide

Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan, Fresh exposes the horrors of online dating. Here are the rest of the thriller's cast and characters.

Fresh's Ending Explained

Noa turns the tables on steve using his own tactics.

As the Fresh ending explained, Steve uses his good looks and wit to seduce women, who he plans to later sell to high-end clients as meat. After figuring out that Steve likes her, Noa turns up the charm and convinces him that she wants to be with him, despite the fact that he's taken her prisoner to sell her body for meat.

Noa uses Steve's own tactics against him as a first step to taking back her power

In the movie, Stan's charming serial killer takes her on a special "date" and shows her the wall of "trophies" that he keeps from his victims — among which is Mollie's cell phone. Noa seduces Steve over the course of the evening and when his guard is down, she goes down on him, taking a page out of his book by biting off part of his penis. Using the opportunity to escape, Noa rescues Mollie and Penny, and they make a run for it.

Noa uses Steve's own tactics against him as a first step to taking back her power, as the Fresh ending explained. She and the other women that he kidnaps are treated like literal pieces of meat. Noa, Mollie, and Penny represent women who have been victims of assault at the hands of men, and when they knock him out in the kitchen and later kill him and his wife, Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), who supports his cannibalism, they represent vindication for those victims.

Fresh 's ending is reminiscent of the ending of Get Out , where Chris escapes the Armitages before they can remove his brain. Steve, like the Armitages in Get Out , commodifies the women's bodies in Fresh , literally removing Noa's butt — a highly desired part of a woman's body — to sell as meat. Like Chris, Noa and the other women have to literally kill their oppressors in order to escape with their lives.

Mimi Cave's thriller Fresh has an opening credits delay, but that only contributes to the clever execution of its disturbing cannibalism twist.

How Does Steve Choose His Victims?

The killer in fresh finds women without strong family ties.

As the Fresh ending explained, when Steve first meets Noa, she is at the grocery store and standing under a sign that reads " fresh meats ." Although this is just a tongue-in-cheek nod to his intentions — finding fresh meat at the grocery store — Noa is exactly the type of person that Steve targets, a method similar to Sweeney Todd, who turns his victims into meat pies . On their first date, she tells him that she doesn't have any family because her dad passed away, and she is estranged from her mother, which tells Steve that nobody will be looking for her.

Steve's targets are women that few people would miss, which has allowed him to make a career out of being a " human butcher ."

Steve also makes sure that Noa hasn't told anyone much about him and seems satisfied that she only told her best friend Mollie that she met a guy. While being held hostage at Steve's house in the woods, Noa learns that Penny, the woman who Steve was holding in the cell next to hers, was seduced in a similar way and also doesn't have anyone in her life to sound the alarm when she goes missing. Steve's targets are women that few people would miss, which has allowed him to make a career out of being a " human butcher ."

Why Is Ann Working With Steve?

Ann is a classic case of stockholm syndrome.

The Fresh ending explained that Steve's wife Ann has a missing leg when Mollie goes to their house in her search for Noa. Ann is revealed to be helping Steve with his cannibalistic efforts, but also appears to have been a victim of his at one time. In the magazines that Steve gives to Noa while holding her prisoner, there's a note from a previous victim that suggests that giving her the magazines means he likes her.

Although there's no evidence that the note was left by Ann, the note itself serves as evidence that Steve has formed a romantic connection to his victims in the past. Ann represents the victim who ultimately sides with the oppressor, and, worse, who keeps others down to get ahead. She was at one point in the same position as Noa: a woman taken hostage and being mutilated by a man she trusted.

Fresh screenwriter Lauryn Kahn says that Ann represents women who don't support other women.

Where Noa's desire for self-preservation leads her to plot her escape, Ann seems to have warped feelings for her captor. Not only does she empathize with Steve, going so far as to marry and have children with him, but she actively helps him harm other victims. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , Fresh screenwriter Lauryn Kahn says that Ann represents women who don't support other women.

Even though she is presumably one of Steve's victims herself, Ann has fully aligned herself with him and even tries to kill Noa for killing him, weighing keeping him happy as more important than the other women he has mutilated and murdered.

Hulu's Fresh provides an original take on the perils of dating and consumer culture - here are the biggest questions left from the mercurial thriller.

Who Are The Men At The Table?

Steve is part of a network of male cannibals.

As the Fresh ending explained, Steve sells his human meat to wealthy clients who pay big bucks to eat his "exotic" product. At the mid-credits, there is a quick glimpse of some of those clients. The men are seated around a table with a pile of bloody human meat at the center. Some are dressed in fancy suits while others are nude, representing how depraved these men actually are. While it's more of an image than a scene, it helps to show that Steve is just one part of a much larger problem.

This is a visual representation of how men often view women as " pieces of meat ," the metaphor that drives the entire film.

The men are literally using women for consumption, which, given their nudity, seems to be a sexual fetish for some of them. This is a visual representation of how men often view women as " pieces of meat ," the metaphor that drives the entire film. To too many men in power, women are viewed as objects, commodities to be traded.

The Real Meaning Of Fresh's Ending

The 2022 horror movie's finale drives home its themes of the perils of online dating.

As the Fresh ending explained, Fresh is a social satire in line with the social commentary of 21st-century horror movies . At its core, it is a critique of the modern dating scene, especially the dangers involved in dating for young, single women. There are many good men out there, but also plenty of dangers and dates that potentially wish to do harm. It also aptly skewers the way men in power disregard the bodily autonomy of women and feel entitled to control women's bodies.

But on a more hopeful note, the Fresh ending explained how women are able to take back their power by working together because no one else will. Three women who are victimized by a man take back their power by literally killing their oppressor.

It is the bond between Noa and Mollie that saves them, rather than a romantic connection with a man.

The women are left to save themselves, after Paul (Dayo Okeniyi), Mollie's friend, drives away from the cabin instead of rescuing the women after he hears a gunshot. But through the women helping and supporting each other, they free themselves despite what Steve has taken from them . In the end, it is the bond between Noa and Mollie that saves them, rather than a romantic connection with a man.

The point is driven home at the very end of Fresh when Noa receives a text from Chad, her disastrous date from the beginning of the film, that simply reads " You up? " Though the horror of Noa's experience with Steve is over, she isn't free from the low-grade horror of modern dating or being viewed as no more than a metaphorical piece of meat.

Fresh is a feminist social satire horror film that doesn't rely on a stereotypical Final Girl commonly utilised throughout the film genre.

Why The Fresh Ending Worked So Well

Noa's decisions are the true genius behind the fresh ending.

The Fresh ending explained its overarching meaning clearly, but that's not the only reason it landed. Daisy Edgar-Jones in Fresh is one of the best final girls in a while, who smartly figures out that she and Steve's victims must band together to survive. Fresh is unique as an elevated, yet gory, horror movie , as it artfully plays out its own themes in a digestible way. The final climax crescendos into some satisfying retribution as Noa is able to escape, and Chad's text is a smart way of saying that the "horrors" of being a single woman aren't over.

Fresh is truly a movie that hasn't been done before, and its high stakes are paid off in full by its bombastic ending. The casting in and of itself is perfect, as it's quite, well, refreshing to see Sebastian Stan outside of his usual superhero fare. Fresh is a woman's version of Get Out , and the ending sticks simply because it's so unique, yet its message remains true to life.

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Fresh is a Hulu original film starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as a single woman named Noa who is searching for love on dating apps. But after meeting a man named Steve (Sebastian Stan), she agrees to take a romantic weekend trip with him. The only catch is that she discovers he is a cannibal that consumes and sells human flesh.

• SR Originals
• Fresh (2022)