Nov. 29, 2022
By Clare Malfetti
Staff Writer
If you like the horror genre, Hulu’s “Fresh” is the movie for you. This film, which debuted on Hulu on March 4, follows the grueling events that the main character Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) faces as she escapes her crazy ex-boyfriend Steve (Sebastian Stan), who sells human flesh to wealthy cannibals and is also a cannibal himself.
At the beginning of the movie, viewers see that Noa is a girl who is just trying to find love, but dating apps aren’t working for her. Noa makes a pact with her best friend Mollie to stay single, but this pact fails when she meets Steve, who seems like a normal guy at first.
Steve and Noa go on a date and hit it off right from the start. Noa talks to Mollie about him, explaining that Steve is not on social media. Mollie views this as a red flag, and her intuition is right.
The first time Noa goes to Steve’s house, he drugs her and locks her in a dungeon. When Mollie realizes her suspicions about Steve are correct, she sets out to find her friend. This plan goes awry when Mollie discovers that Steve has a secret wife Ann (Charlotte Le Bon) who is in on her husband’s scheme. Mollie is abducted as well, and now she and Noa need to escape together.
Noa winds up getting sick but shows her strength by engaging in cannibalism in an effort to survive.
Le Bon is a supporting actress, but she captures viewers’ attention because of her great work portraying Ann. She convincingly plays the part of a good person who didn’t know anything about her husband’s alternate life, which leaves viewers shocked when the truth comes out.
Days after her capture, Noa devises a plan to earn Steve’s trust in an effort to eventually escape. She convinces him to release her so she can have a meal, which includes the human meat Steve has offered her. Noa winds up getting sick but shows her strength by engaging in cannibalism in an effort to survive.
During the meal that Noa and Steve share, Noa finds out that Mollie is now there with her in the house. This gives Noa even more determination because she feels guilty about dragging Mollie into the potentially deadly situation.
The movie builds to a thrilling scene where Noa helps Mollie and another one of Steve’s captives Penny (Andrea Bang) escape from the dungeons where they were kept. The movie reaches its climax when the women have a violent confrontation with Steve and Ann in the woods.
I have watched many horror movies, and while this one isn’t terrifying, it is certainly thrilling and exciting with a lot of different plot twists. It does not revolutionize the genre, but it sure makes for some good entertainment.
