“Fresh,” a new thriller by director Mimi Cave, was released on Hulu on Friday Mar. 4. Frightening, humorous and ambitious, “Fresh” comments on the struggles of the modern dating world, but with a disturbing twist. 

The film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan as Noa and Steve, whose cute meeting at a grocery store leads them into a romantic entanglement. Despite some concerns voiced by her best friend Mollie, Noa agrees to go on a weekend getaway with Steve. However, upon her arrival at her trip’s destination, Noa realizes she is in for more than she bargained for with her new beau. Following their weekend excursion, the movie takes a turn into the unexpected, and Steve’s true appetites reveal themselves. 

Before the release of the film, Edgar-Jones and Stan participated in a virtual actors roundtable with college newspapers across the country. Student writers asked the pair of actors about their thoughts on playing these characters and their reflections from working on the film. From their responses, participants in the roundtable got a first–hand take of the two actors’ experiences working on “Fresh.” 

According to both actors, their participation in the film felt different from anything they have done previously. For Stan, he touched upon the strange uniqueness of the plot. In describing “Fresh,” Stan pointed out the various genres embedded in the film and discussed how their interplay contributed to the movie’s intrigue. 

“It’s a relationship movie that’s very strange, and different and extreme,” Stan said. “And there was a romantic comedy part to it that was reminiscent of other films that were lighter and it had this darker, kind of more grounded, real scary part to it. It kind of went back and forth and mixed those genres.” 

Edgar-Jones held the same view as Stan on the fascinating nature of the film and shared with the roundtable that its uncommonness is what drew her to this role in the first place. When first looking at the script and set of “Fresh,” Edgar-Jones was intrigued by the innovative aspects of this film. 

“I think I was drawn to it because I hadn’t read anything like it before, and I thought, ‘What an opportunity to do something really different,’” Edgar-Jones said. “I knew it was going to be stylishly done too because I’d seen Mimi, our director, had made a scissor reel. She had sort of cut together a trailer of Fresh before we’d even started filming for inspiration.”

In preparation for “Fresh,” Stan shared how his knowledge of serial killers helped shape him into his role. By playing Steve, Stan knew it was necessary to do some studying to get into the mindset of someone as twisted as his character. 

“It’s all in the world of making him look and appear safe and there’s a certain kind of recurring tactic to some of those serial killers,” Stan said. “Similarly, Ted Bundy would do the same thing. He would appear in distress or that he needs help, or he would find a way to connect where he doesn’t appear threatening.”

However, despite the dark nature of the film, Edgar-Jones revealed that they actually had a lot of fun while filming. She noted that even though this film is frightening, the enjoyment that she and the cast experienced transcended some of those horrific moments in the movie.

“I think we were laughing the whole way through making it, which is nice,” Edgar-Jones said. “So, even though there are moments of darkness, you can see that everyone involved is actually having quite a lot of fun. And it does translate, I think, on-screen even in those moments of horror.”

Whether a viewer’s takeaway from the film is related to the perils of modern dating, the commodification of women’s bodies or general awareness, Edgar-Jones and Stan hope that viewers will learn something from “Fresh.”   

 “We’re just hoping people can understand the undercurrents and the themes of the movie while going on a journey,” Stan said. 

“Fresh” premiered on Hulu on March 4 and is currently streaming.