When Dating Takes a Dark Turn
“Fresh” gives feminist insight into the objectification women face in the dating world
In a dating era when apps are ubiquitous, meeting people in person has become almost obsolete. The film “Fresh,” however, shows that the extended horrors extolled on women dating in the 21st century can happen online and in-person.
The movie opens with the protagonist Noa (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones). She projects realistic issues women face on online dating sites. The film shows the troublesome mishaps that women experience in the online dating world: from receiving unwanted dick pictures and going on dates where men devalue female contributions to the judgment for how women are dressed. It can be a game and a challenge to simply find someone one truly connects with. Noa’s experiences are relatable.
The film takes a drastic turning point when Noa encounters Steve (played by Sebastian Stan) at the supermarket. The encounter sparks a connection between the two and a relationship unfurls. However, what may at first seem like an ordinary rom-com movie drastically turns into a thrilling madash of woman on the run. Steve has a carnivorous side to him which he unveils to Noa once she is held hostage in his cabin home. Here, Noa sees the horrors of Steve’s cannibalistic hunger.
The movie expertly adds extreme close-ups of disjointed facial expressions from the mouth, eyes and nose that coincide with foley sound effects from the clinking of cutlery, to every morsel bite and swish of drinks. This adds to a sensuous experience to the film, but also relays a heavy theme which is the objectification of both the food and women.
The cinematography heavily relays this theme of objectification by pivoting the camera and movements in certain directions. For instance, in one scene, Steve carries a dolly where audiences get a drastic insight into his cooler of human body parts. The camera is mounted on top of the dolly and is framed low to give a sense that the audience, too, can also be objectified. It is even symbolically significant that the camera is positioned on top of an area where Steven mounts all these body parts.
Another instance of the well-crafted cinematography emanates from a dutch angle situated between Noa and Steve during a dinner scene. Both stand opposite from one another with the camera leaning towards the right to emphasize Steve as the taller individual in the position of power while Noa is still weak and diminutive in comparison.
In further examining the characters, the film heavily instructs a well-rounded positioning of women. While some of it may be on the nose, it highlights the female victims of patriarchy, the women advocates, as well as the women opponents. For example, Noa’s friend Mollie (played by Jonica I. Gibbs) highlights the role of the woman's advocate after she instinctively feels that Noa’s texts are off.
Mollie’s desperation to find her friend and help her is just one example of how female friends help one another in times of need. However, in a later scene, audiences become aware of a female character that perpetuates the pain and oppression of other women even if this limits their own progression.
While the movie conceptually is great, has wide female representation, and fantastic cinematography, there are some pieces that feel incomplete and lackluster by the end. In the third act, a character tracks down a friend in the woods, but the scene is shortsighted to satirize black characters as the first to die in a horror film. Additionally, there are some bits and bobs to the context of the film that are never truly tied up.
Although “Fresh” does not truly meet up to par as an outstanding film, it gives a horror-esque twist to the insights of the dating scene and is an entertaining watch. As a result, the concerns of women and their viewership in the modern dating scene become evident as the issues are dramatized in a visual story.