Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Frustrated by scrolling dating apps only to end up on lame, tedious dates, Noa takes a chance by giving her number to the awkwardly charming Steve after a produce-section meet-cute at the grocery store.
Fresh (2022) is a competent genre hybrid that leans heavily on Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan's performances to elevate fairly familiar thriller mechanics. Edgar-Jones is magnetic and Stan brings an unsettling charm that makes the film genuinely watchable, earning a strong acting score. The plot cleverly uses dating-app frustration as a metaphor for how women are 'consumed' by men, but the execution becomes increasingly conventional once the premise is established — the cannibal-as-romantic-predator idea has antecedents and the film doesn't push its satirical premise as far as it could. Cinematography is competent and stylish in places but not distinctive enough to stand out. The ending deflates much of the tension built earlier, opting for a relatively tidy resolution that undercuts the film's darker thematic ambitions — a notable weak point. Novelty sits at average: the genre-blending is engaging but the film ultimately feels like a polished execution of familiar ideas rather than something truly singular.