The Hulu release of Fresh, a directorial debut for Mimi Cave, was a significant moment for the horror film genre in 2022. The film captivated audiences just as much as it revolted them, drawing the viewer into an increasingly stomach-churning spectacle. Starring the burgeoning Hollywood ingénue Daisy Edgar-Jones as Noa and seasoned Marvel veteran Sebastian Stan as Steve, Fresh serves up a gory taste of the world of modern dating from a woman’s perspective. In some ways, the film is portraying, in hyperbole, the objectification women so often face.
On the other hand, the metaphor cannot even truly be called hyperbolic, because women are, in fact, victims to such heinous crimes as what the sinister Steve (Sebastian Stan) subjects his dating partners to. The film enjoyed high viewership and mostly favorable critical and audience reception, with an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While 2022 was a busy year for the horror genre, with many notable and excellent projects released, here is why Fresh deserves the title of the best horror movie of 2022.
The visuals of Fresh are nothing short of truly horrifying. A movie best watched when you don’t have immediate dinner plans, we see montages of shaven human meat, entire limbs being sliced up like common butchery, and jarring amputations sickeningly set to the upbeat sound of Steve’s music playlists. The nonchalant casualness with which Steve literally chops up his former dates and packages their personal belongings alongside the meat is made all the more repugnant with him singing and dancing his way through his most unusual workday.
Fresh presents an antagonist who only sees women as pieces of meat in the most literal way possible. In this way, the metaphor stares us right in the face ever so blatantly, but we are too lost in the shocking gore to even give the premise much thought until after we have time to process the horror that just unfolded for 114 minutes. The film is a masterclass in presenting an overarching theme in a way that audiences can clearly understand while creating material that doesn’t feel dumbed down or forced.
Related: Sebastian Stan is Unrecognizable in First Look at A24's A Different Man
Strong Cast
The gripping performances by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan are the beating heart of Fresh. The imagery and sequences are powerful enough alone, but it is the nuanced and measured performances of its stars that make the film so great. Jones and Stan reign in the film’s more aggressive themes with performances that bring the audience’s attention back to the characters rather than the imagery. Sebastian Stan displays his effervescent charm in a context where it feels entirely wrong to be endeared by it, but further emphasizes that violent predators are sometimes those we would least expect. He isn’t a creepy guy lurking in the shadows or hopping out of a beat-up white van.
He’s a good-looking, allegedly well-accomplished, fun guy who blindsides Noa with his secret life. The montages of Steve’s customers enjoying their perilously procured product further demonstrate the great diversity that exists within the hidden worlds of exploitation and abuse. These men are, by all appearances, successful and wealthy men who don’t go around waving a flag that says “Hey, I’m a pervert and a cannibal!”. They are unsuspecting; they could be your boss, your boyfriend, or a public figure you trust.
Daisy Edgar-Jones does a sublime job as Noa, the unfortunate woman who spends the greater part of the film attempting to escape the clutches of her captor. When Steve explains to her what he plans to do, her reaction is just right. It isn’t an overacted excess of hollering and pleading, but rather a subtle transition through several stages of denial and fear. As the film progresses, we lose sight of Noa’s inner world as she puts on a clever facade for Steve. The audience watches as she flirts with Steve and explores his cannibalistic tastes, wondering if maybe she is genuinely succumbing to some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Just as one may begin to worry that Noa is too far gone in sheer survival instincts, she takes advantage of Steve's vulnerability to start her daring escape.
Related: Underrated Horror Movies of the 1950s, Ranked
Cinematography and Soundtrack
As mentioned, the cinematography of Fresh plays a large role in its storytelling. It is meant to be utterly disturbing, and thus captures the perverted and dehumanizing essence of misogynistic crimes. The soundtrack plays an equally vital role, with each track being intentionally chosen to create a juxtaposition between the imagery and the tone of the movie. Director Mimi Cave explains: “The score is balancing out the needle drops. It’s pretty dark and pretty intentionally less melodic and more ambient. We have so many songs in the movie that are recognizable or something you want to bump your head to. That is the way in which I balanced the violence and the laughter in terms of the action.”
Impact
What makes Fresh so scary is that audiences do not feel safe from what plays out before them on screen. For women, the world truly can be a dangerous place where those we wish to trust most may bring the most unimaginable harm. Surviving something so harrowing as what Noa has only to have your first cellphone notification be a booty call is a perfect representation of how women are surrounded on all sides by male objectification; from benign to malignant, and seem to never get a true respite from this lifelong onslaught of misogyny. In the first week of its release, Fresh was reported to be the second most streamed movie across major streaming platforms in the United States, though the film only seemed to generate moderate conversation.
The film was not as much of a viral sensation as many Netflix or Hulu releases have become, but it has been recognized as an important and impactful piece speaking up on behalf of women. It doesn’t make any demands of the audience or make a rallying cry for one cause or another; it just shows everyone how terrifying being a woman can be. Furthermore, it exemplifies how women must stick together to overcome countless threats and injustices, earning the movie a place among the best feminist pieces to date.
