Noa -played by a believable Daisy Edgar-Jones- cannot seem to catch a break when it comes to finding love. Judging from her night out with a man-child who is as wrapped up with himself as he is wrapped in a scarf he accidentally dips into his noodles in their first -and only- date, it is easy to understand her frustration. As she catches up with her best friend -Jojo T. Gibbs, playing a similar role to Lil Rel Howery in Get Out-, she comes to the conclusion that she does not need anybody in order to be happy, screaming “Fuck Ariel… fuck Beauty… fuck Beast… I am the Beast”, in a direct attack to the Disneyesque nature of a romantic love that only exists in fiction and is nowhere to be found, neither in real life, nor in Fresh, the feature length debut of Mimi Cave.

A rutinary trip to the supermarket ends up becoming a meet cute -or should we say meat cute?- with a man she ends up going out on a date with. Despite the randomness of their old-fashioned, accidental encounter in a world of dating apps, everything seems to be perfect between Noa and Steve -played by Sebastian Stan, who does more than chewing up the scenery here-. They start seeing each other, and even decide to go on a romantic trip, indicating that things might be finally improving for poor-old Noa.

Up to this point, the solid script by Lauryn Kahn unfolds as a reflection of how it is being a woman in the real world. Noa, not only has to deal with the perils of modern dating, but also with threats such as finding herself in a dark alley followed by an unknown man -moment that brilliantly plays with our expectations and that brought to my mind the fantastic Promising Young Woman, a fitting complement for Fresh-. Noa works to be her best self, even if it is on her own. However, suddenly everything changes as Steve has everything that it takes to make him the perfect candidate for a relationship (likeable personality, sensibility, intelligence, good looks and fantastic hair). It all seems to good to be true.

Then, the credits roll… around the 33-minute mark.

This stop in the progress of the film -representing the conclusion of its more romantic section- is done in such intentional way to draw attention to the fact that our blindfold is removed to discover that not everything is what it seems to be. Although we will toptoe around some details of what happens in the rest of the film, Fresh abandons any trait of a conventional romantic comedy to become a horror thriller, whilst it continues to be food for thought. In a more literal way, though.

Although Edgar-Jones’ Noa has been the heart of the film in the beginning, it is Sebastian Stan who steals the spotlight from this moment until the end. He is perfect for the role of Steve, channeling the energy of Patrick Bateman, Tyler Durden and a certain psychiatrist with a fondness for human meat and Chianti. Never missing a bit, Stan convincingly jumps from a magnetic romantic lead to a menacing figure with a knack for dancing and haute cuisine. The moments when Edgar-Jones and Stan share scenes together are tense -yet delightful to see- battles of wits in which both feed off of each other brilliantly, whilst we keep guessing what is going to happen next, who is using who, and how far can they go, or as Steve puts it: “It’s about giving. Giving yourself over to somebody. Becoming one with somebody else, forever. And that’s… That’s a beautiful thing. That’s surrender. That’s love.”

The fact that Fresh is limited mostly to a handful of locations is by no means a bad thing, but an advantage instead, as it allows Cave and her cinematographer -Pawel Pogorzelski, who worked in Midsommar, Hereditary and Nobody– to play with the use of close-ups and limited enclosed locations within an architecture filled with contrasts, to make us feel trapped in an increasingly distressing atmosphere. Also, to top things up (and partly also thanks to the attention given to the sound design), it is highly likely that you find yourself equally engrossed and grossed out by the beautiful meals, carefully prepared by Steve, who happens to be a fantastic chef -although you might not want to have him in your kitchen-.

We could not end without saying that this is not a film for the faint-hearted with sensitive stomachs, but despite that -or perhaps as a result of its desire to create an uncomfortable sense of disturbing dread-, Fresh feels unique on the way it updates the somewhat stale romantic genre by dealing with the nature of toxic masculinity, as well as toxic relationships, and how is it like to be a woman trying to thrive and survive the dangers of the modern world as well as the dating scene. Confidently backed up by the script and its central performances, Cave seamlessly blends drama, horror and pitch black comedy to create a film that certainly leaves its audience hungry for more.