Is Fresh A True Story?

Fresh is a comedy thriller movie that takes a look at modern-day dating and adds a big and scary dose of cannibalism into the mix – but is Fresh based on a true story? The horror genre has been going through a great run in recent years thanks to sequels, reboots, remakes, and adaptations of other works, but it seems to have become stuck on those. Luckily, there are still original stories being made and released in theaters and streaming platforms, and among the most recent (and intriguing) ones is Fresh, directed by Mimi Cave and written by Lauryn Kahn.

Fresh introduces viewers to Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a young woman disillusioned and tired of modern, online dating. One day, she’s approached by Steve (Sebastian Stan) at the supermarket and they exchange numbers. After a successful first date where they turned out to have a lot in common, Noa and Steve start dating, and he convinces Noa to go on a weekend break away with him. That day, Steve decides that they will leave the next morning and they can spend the night at his luxurious house, but it turns out to be a trap. Steve drugs Noa and reveals he harvests female meat and sells it to unknown, wealthy clients, and Noa is his newest victim. Noa then has to decide if to follow along with Steve’s games or find a way to escape, even if that means losing some body parts.

Fresh explores the horrors of modern dating and takes them to extremes, and what makes it scarier is that the story of a man who sells female meat and targets women with no families isn’t really implausible. Unfortunately, there are countless known cases of human trafficking with the purpose of selling human meat, and there have even been restaurants that sold human flesh as part of their menus as an expensive treat. With all this in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Fresh was based on a true story, but in reality, Fresh is an original story with no real-life cases of cannibalism and “human meat markets” used as sources, and instead, the inspiration for the story was taken from something else.

In an interview with THR, Kahn shared that she had always enjoyed horror movies, and when asking for advice when it was time for her to write one, she was told by that person that they “wrote the scariest thing to them”. Kahn then decided to explore “something that was grounded from the female perspective in the dating world” and depict “the subconscious way women operate in the world that men don’t know about”. Cannibalism seems to have been the touch Fresh needed to become a horror movie, as it’s a perfect metaphor of the objectification of women, and all this is a lot clearer when remembering that Steve only harvests female meat as it “tastes better”, but gives no reason as to why. Kahn has spoken more about the social, female perspectives and issues that made way for Fresh rather than the cannibalistic side of it, so it’s unclear if there were other, more gore-oriented inspirations behind it.

Ultimately, what’s more important about Fresh is its exploration of modern dating and friendships as well rather than the cannibal side of it, as it’s all a metaphor for a variety of horrors that women (all women) have to face on a daily basis and aren’t discussed and addressed as often as they should. Surely, and as mentioned above, there are a variety of real-life, horrific cases of “human meat market” and there are likely many others that operate in the black market and other ways, but Fresh’s main inspirations come from other types of horrors.

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Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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