THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If you were to ask me how I like my meat? I would sarcastically reply as long as it's Fresh.
PLOT
The film takes place in Portland and follows Noa who is feeling disillusioned with online dating, due to past dates being rude to interact with. Things take a turn when she meets Brendan Steve Kemp at a supermarket, who goes by his middle name. They hit it off so fast that they would have sex on the first date. Long after multiple dates, she would agree to go on a weekend break with him, which is against the advice of her best friend Mollie. When she spends the evening at his home, he would drug her cocktail that would lead to her falling unconscious. When she wakes up in captivity, he admits to what he did because he confesses of his profession to be a butcher of human meat which he consumes himself and sells to wealthy clients. Due to the said clients preferring the meat of young women, he spends a lot of his time to lure and abduct women on dates. He prefers to keep Noa alive as long as possible to keep her meat fresh whenever he decides to surgically removes parts of her body. When he allows her to take a shower, she would try to escape but quickly fails. He would punish her by harvesting her buttocks. Next to her cell, she speaks to another woman named Penny (Andrea Bang) and hears the voice of another from afar named Melissa whose gone insane during her captivity. In the meantime, Mollie grows worry of her friend and seeks help of her friend Paul (Dayo Okeniyi), who served her and Steve on their first date as a bartender. When he gives her his full name, she finds out that he is married with two sons. When she tries to address his wife Ann of the affair, Brendan himself would appear and die it. When she calls Noa's phone, it would ring in his pocket, thus his cover would be blown until his wife acts as an accomplice and knocks her unconscious. Although Ann was originally a victim that lost her leg to him, she stuck around when he eventually fell for her. Once returning with an unexpected new victim, Noa regains Steve's trust by flirting with him and pretending to be interested in tasting human meat. He would have dinner with her and provide her a lavish meal, which she pretends to appreciate until later vomiting it in her cell. After that date, he harvests Mollie's breasts. Before a second date, he would show a compartment of items that elonged to past victims before feeding her Mollie's breast meat, in which he connotes it tastes familiar. She would soon realize Mollie is in the house when spotting her phone. When she persuades Steve to have sex, she would trick him by biting off his testicles and temporarily blind him with toothpaste, giving herself a chance to escape. She is able to free the now crippled Mollie and Penny in the process and they incapacitate him when he reaches the kitchen. When the women reach the woods, he would catch up again with a gun. When he does, they get the upper hand to take the gun from him and shoot him dead. Paul would find Steve's house when not hearing from Mollie, but would retreat upon hearing the gunshots. Ann would arrive at the house due to her husband avoiding her calls. Upon realizing that he died, she tries to kill Noa but she would defend herself by stabbing her neck with car keys. Mollie would then aid her friend by beating her to death with a shovel. The film would end with Noa getting a text from her terrible date Chad (Brett Dier) while taking a moment to embrace with her best friend.
THOUGHTS
It ain’t easy catching up with content posted by streaming services due to their consistency, but when you choose to make the time, it’s totally worth it. This was definitely the case when checking this out on Hulu and finding myself completely in shock of what was shown. Due to going into this blind, I was fine with it starting out as a romantic drama. But when it reveals itself as a horror movie 33 minutes later; I was definitely leaving my jaw on the floor from then on. The way Director Mimi Cave and writer Lauryn Kahn patiently reveal the story’s genre was perfectly executed since it ain’t easy to time an element so well. Thanks to the impeccable cinematography by Pawel Pogorzelski, you’ll be feeling disturbed yet intrigued of the ensuing terror. Just when you thought the taboo subject of cannibalism was irrelevant, this movie reminds you that it remains highly important to discuss now than it was when The Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out. The reason this movie works is due to using the said subject as a creative platform to also explore the darkness that can be visible in modern dating. When you are a single individual putting yourself out there, you must always be careful because you cannot always guarantee one's true intentions whether it's a fateful meet cute or casual convo. Actress Daisy Edgar Jones showed Noa as a vulnerable individual who was pushing to find happiness and found it in the wrong guy. Because of that, you totally feel bad of the predicament she never intended to walk in to. And you still root for her as the story progresses because she becomes smart enough to be aware of her surroundings put good use to her advantages to escape the hell she never thought she'd enter. The way she is able to figure out how remain calm in her predicament to better her chances of escaping is incredible, especially when spotting her friend's phone. Speaking of which, I even got to enjoy the presence of Mollie, who thanks to a good performance from Jonica T Gibbs, she was nothing but a good friend to Noa who was rightfully concerned for her. Even though she put herself in danger, it was still worth it in the long run because they still overcame the odds together. There have been past fictional cannibals where you're admittedly fascinated with like Hannibal Lecter, but this is the first time where you hate one from the get go. Enter Sebastian Stan who fools you at first with his charm but slowly reveals the sadistic persona Steve is all about. The guy is pure evil with the satisfaction he gets from what he does. He's so manipulative because he knows what a lonely woman would want and uses it well. He's the true definition of a predator due to how he patiently stalked his prey and waited until the time was right for him to go for it. The fact that the mid credits imply he and his clients are part of a Satanic cult, it only made my skin crawl in the most uncomfortable way possible. As you witness how dreadful he was, all you want is to see him be stopped however and when the women stand up to him in brutal fashion, it was without question a satisfying moment. Aside from her, another interesting character we got to see has to be Ann. Charlotte Le Bon definitely showed her to be more complex than the villain himself. She is indeed a victim of his work and chooses to stay with him this whole time because the trauma has made her so warped to believe she loves him the way he does. When you understand that mindset she has, you can't help feeling bad for her as you already have for the new victims. I didn't want her to die like Steve because she didn't deserve to be in such a terrible position either, but it felt that she had to be put out of misery if she didn't feel free when he died first. Considering that she kept calling him which he ignored, you can bet she was feeling more scared than before she knows that if he fell for someone else, chances would've been high for her to be harvested again. I'm not kidding when I say this film blew me away, but even a good film like this had moments that had me scratching my head. Like first off, why is it a thing to taste non sample food before buying it? After living through a pandemic, I've been afraid of germs like a lot of people, so you know I was bothered when the woman at the supermarket touched the milk. I then wonder is it really a red flag when people don't have social media? This may be the case for Steve, but that really shouldn't apply for everyone because not everyone can handle the toxic realm that goes down online. Also, I know Steve is a completely different person compared to the women he's killing, but how can you tell someone to calm down after surgically removing their ass? I mean that is literally asking to be hated. Having a compartment of past victims' belongings is already bad enough as is, but even the phones is a gamble. I don't want this villain to win, but a decision like that is like asking to be caught. And even if he likes Noa, he should've remained cautious and kept her chained to the pole whenever taking her back to the pole. Lastly, I respect Noa's heart, but I deeply felt that she should've just taken off alone. Had she done that, she would've gotten to the police sooner and even if he destroyed any evidence, his cells definitely would've been brought up for questioning, if not having her ass surgically removed. I really didn't mind the bloody climax because we deserved it, but it was a gamble that could've gone worse. Other than that, this remains totally worthwhile once ignoring said flaws. In short, Fresh may not come off horrific, yet it always knew how to feel ecstatic of a viewing experience by the end of it. If you have Hulu and want a movie that can time the twists and turns just right, his will definitely be to your taste.
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