"FRESH" -Movie Review ~Disturbing AF (No spoilers)
Movies are a long time passion of mine. I have my parents to thank for that, especially my father.
At a very young age I was watching all sorts of movies every Friday night as a family ritual, and my parents weren't necessarily censorship aficionados.
I remember seeing The Killing Fields at age 10 years old. Set in 1973, that film illustrated the harshness of civil war that trickled over into Cambodia at the tail end of the Vietnam War. Needless to say, I'm no stranger to disturbing movie content. Admittedly, though, I've become more sensitive to disturbing things, especially topics that involve murder of children and/or animals,.
Now, I may have become a softy, but the Hulu original film Fresh is NO JOKE. My husband and I watched this on a Friday night recently. Nothing bothers him, and even he was creeped out by it.
The Review:
Fresh is a dark comedy/horror film that follows the dating life of a woman named Noa, played by Daisy Edgar Jones. It is clear that she is worn out by the trials and tribulations of online dating. At some point, one gets the inclination that she is ready to give up on ever meeting Prince Charming.
Well, guess what? She does meet Prince Charming .....except......Prince Charming has some dark (and I mean dark) shit going on behind the scenes.
After 30 minutes of whooing, strap in because Shit. Gets. Real. Like real-real.
Now this movie is on par graphically with your typical Eli Roth film (director of Hostle & Green Inferno), so there's nothing innovative going on in the way of graphic violence. But the "disturbing" part comes in because one begins to realize as the film progresses that this shit is probably happening in real life. WTF?!?
I don't want to spoil this film for anyone. It is worth watching, even though I hate graphic violence of this nature. Sebastian Stan (a.k.a Marvel's Winter Soldier) plays Steve (i.e. Prince Charming), and he delivers a scary, believable performance that would make anyone --and should make everyone-- hesitate before succumbing so easily to hypnotic looks and a dazzling smile.
The rest of the cast performs well, and each are suited perfectly to their roles. Ms. Jones' overall appearance, demenaor and her ability to illustrate emotional range reminds me of Anne Hathaway. Hopefully, we will see more of her in the future. Jonica Gibbs, who plays Noa's cool-but-sees-right-through-the-bullshit friend Mollie delivers a fun performance in her supporting role.
The film itself is refreshing, unique, and funny but most certainly horrifying. If you liked the film American Psycho then this will be a pleasurable 1hr and 57 min ride.
