Review: Sebastian Stan devours horror-romance 'Fresh'

by Matt St Clair

The new horror/romance hybrid Fresh chiefly functions as a viable kidnapping thriller that still  gets one thing right about our modern dating scene. It can be a literal terror show. It’s especially horrifying in our era of dating apps. The constant hoping for a companion as you keep sending messages saying “Hello” that get no response can make you wonder if people read the actual profile. It’s easy to judge a book by its cover and message someone based on how they look in their photo. But do people bother to read our bios for a better idea on what we might be like? 

As Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) finds out the hard way, meeting people in real life can be just as rough...

After meeting a strikingly handsome doctor named Steve (Sebastian Stan) while on a grocery store run, Noa feels like there’s hope for her. With Steve, Noa senses that her craving for a stable partner have finally been satisfied. However, the peaceful weekend getaway he promises to take her on becomes a fight for survival once he holds her captive and reveals…his own kind of craving. 

After breaking our hearts with her breakout performance on the BBC miniseries Normal People, Daisy Edgar-Jones brings us a resourceful, empathetic heroine in the form of Noa. But it's Sebastian Stan who “devours” this picture. Stan’s perfect good looks and initial low-key charisma make one drawn to Steve before he takes his mask off and goes into unhinged mode. Stan does some career-best work that is also the pinnacle in his niche of charming yet dubious schemers from pictures like The Devil All The Time and The Covenant. 

Stan’s two-faced performance toys with audience expectations just like Mimi Cave’s direction. When Noa and Steve begin dating, we’re treated to a blissful montage with close-ups of their lovestruck faces accompanied by harmonious guitar music. It’s the kind of montage plucked from a mechanical rom-com showing how in love the man and woman are after their first meeting. Then, once Noa gets kidnapped and the opening credits roll, things quickly turn on a dime and we’re in perilous horror mode. Even before then, the ominous music that plays during an early love scene foreshadows the doom that awaits our main protagonist. 

When the second act commences and we follow Noa as she’s being held captive, the film does occasionally lose momentum. Also, besides its scuffle to break genre conventions, the script is hindered by having Noa’s best friend Mollie (Jonica T. Gibbs) written as the token Black friend who’s primarily there to provide love advice and warn the main character to avoid the inevitable danger while sitting on the sidelines. 

Mimi Cave’s filmmaking makes what may be a familiar story feel “fresh” and new. Plus it’s undeniably twisted with its sporadically gory violence -- it's not  for the squeamish. But it’s still an uncompromising, swing-for-the-fences directorial debut that greatly benefits from a committed performance from its wickedly charming leading man. B

Fresh is available to stream on Hulu tomorrow, Friday, March 5th. 

Comments

[NATHANIEL R]

Matt -- i'm glad you enjoyed this but wow I hated this. Like hated it. I thought Stan was way overdoing it too (though agreed that he is the stand-out... but there's not much competition)