Sundance Film Festival 2022 Premiere – “I hate this.” Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) says to her date Steve (Sebastian Stan) at the beginning of the clever new horror movie FRESH. With good reason too. Before meeting Steve, Noa has seen her share of debacles. Somehow though her time with the quippy, charming Steve is different. He’s that one in a million guy that has found his way to Noa through a sea of hilariously bad dates. Yet, going in we know, we just know, the other shoe will drop soon enough, and boy does it. Mimi Cave directs from a sharp script by Lauryn Kahn to serve up a darkly funny horror pic that subverts expectation with a disarming charm resulting in the first good taste of horror for 2022.

It’s not like the red flags weren’t all there, they were just folded into Steve’s copious good looks. The two meet in the produce section of the supermarket and bond over grapes. A follow-up date leads to a night of drinking and reckless abandon where Noa begins to fall for the guy. Meanwhile, Noa’s best friend Millie (Jojo T. Gibbs) is keeping a vigilant eye on her pal’s new beau. Why doesn’t Steve use Instagram or Facebook? Where does he live? What does he do? He’s a plastic surgeon? Okay, but where? It’s only after Steve invites Noa away for a weekend getaway that Millie becomes more than concerned and the feeling never wains. Whisked away to a restful getaway Noa discovers that Steve has a particular appetite that some would consider disturbing, while others call it a delicacy. Not that I will give it away but, well, Steve likes his food very FRESH.

The film sports some wonderfully crisp dialogue and irresistible moments that convince us that the jaded Noa would fall for this guy. Stan‘s performance as Steve is pleasantly dark and comedic. Edgar-Jones‘s plays Noa as a romantic that is still well aware that the prospect of connecting with Mr. Right is fraught with peril. But let’s be clear, the stand-out here is Gibbs‘ Millie who dominates the screen every second she’s on with a fresh performance that makes her magnetic. She is the friend we all need and deserve.

While the team on-screen delivers solid work, it would be nothing without the polished aesthetics and production of FRESH dishes out. There is some beautiful production design by Jennifer Morden and beautiful art direction from Steve Scott and Sarah Stapleton that uses rich warm amber tones and deep reds to push a sense of romance and euphoria when needed. This is accompanied by some seductive score by Alex Somers that really captures both the slide into romance and the danger waiting just around the corner. Again though, it is Mimi Cave‘s direction that gives the film the feeling that this could happen to anyone. Between her work and Lauryn Kahn‘s script we are not asked to shake our heads at the cautionary tale, but to be disarmed ourselves and then ultimately rewarded with a wild tale. FRESH delivers on its titular promise with a toothsome array of horrors with a side of fun.

7 Out of 10