SUNDANCE REVIEW – “Fresh”
In what is destined to be a cult-midnight movie that I would love to see with a sold-out audience one day, Fresh follows the story of a young woman named Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who is beyond frustrated with scrolling through countless dating apps and swiping on countless men per day, just to end up on shitty dates that end up with awkward ghosting’s or good-byes. One night, however, she bumps into Steve (Sebastian Stan) who is full of corny jokes but nonetheless charms her. They end up going on a date.. and then a few dates.. which leads her to going on an impromptu trip with him. However, as you can expect, this trip doesn’t go *quite* as planned and that’s all I’ll say – because the best way to watch this movie is knowing as little as possible about it.
Mimi Cave… wow! I am absolutely blown away by how marvelous this film is on a technical level. There are simply so many shots in this movie that truly blew my mind. There are simply shot compositions here that are so unique and specific to the story and characters that I felt so artistically inspired and amazed. The film is also bursting with energy in every single frame, as it balances a wonderful blend of both romantic-comedy and horror into one gnarly, entertaining cocktail from start to finish.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan are both excellent here as well. Jones, who turned in one of my favorite performances in recent years on Hulu’s Normal People, delivers both a humane performance of a woman in her 20s seeking for something more but too tired to change her life in any significant way. Stan is obviously known for his role as Bucky Barnes in the MCU, and I thought this was a delightful change of pace for him. Together, they have some absolutely dynamite and magnetic chemistry that is felt in each and every scene they share with each other.
The film has an insane amount of energy to it, and it completely twists and turns from start to finish that I can’t imagine anyone not having a great time with it. I’m a little upset it isn’t being released in theaters because the first thing that I thought as soon as the film ended was “wow! that would be so fun to see with an audience” – but I truly think the film is so good that it’ll find a very loyal fanbase who appreciate what Mimi Cave is going for. And I’m signing up to be the first member of the fan club, because I absolutely adored this.
4.5/5
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