Reviews of Fresh, Windfall and Black Crab
We take a look at three new movies coming to UK streaming services in March 2022.
Check out our new reviews below of Fresh (Disney+), Windfall (Netflix) and Black Crab (Netflix).
Fresh (2022) Dir. Mimi Cave
Dating has got a lot broader and certainly stranger in the social media world and in her directorial debut, Mimi Cave explores the horrifying risks of online and real-life hook-ups. The fantastic Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Noa who after a string of failed dating app meet-ups, connects with Sebastian Stan’s Steve as they cross paths in a supermarket vegetable aisle. The two hit it off romantically and he soon invites her to a getaway together, but before you can say “probably best to avoid this”, Steve reveals he’s not the nicest of men after all. Whilst social media often explores relationships in a virtual way with metaphorical ghosting, mind-games and gas-lighting, Fresh returns us to the physical world where parts of ourselves – quite literally – can be chopped away within abusive relationships. The first third of the film plays out as a sort of rom-com, brilliantly lulling the viewer into a different kind of flick altogether. But a (relatively obvious) rug-pull quickly pushes the film into far murkier territory involving kidnapping, torture and violence. The film revels in its nastiness and fare share of blood and gore, but it also adds a prescient warning message as well. And in the end, rather than focusing on the swiping left or right on a mobile device, Fresh successfully serves up an exploration of the desires, and sins, of the flesh IRL. ★★★★☆
Windfall (2022) Dir. Charlie McDowell
Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker co-writes with Justin Lader for new thriller Windfall which sees a burglary quickly turn into a tense hostage situation. How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segel enters the empty holiday home of a couple (Lily Collins and Jesse Plemons) only to find they end up visiting during his crime. This forces him to take the two hostage as he attempts to find a way out with lots of money but little evidence. Despite a few scenes in a garden, the movie mostly takes place in the confines of the house giving the film a claustrophobic feeling and forcing all three to interact together despite each of their reservations. The captives attempt to negotiate their release but soon secrets and lies are revealed and teased out by the clever script. The film asks the audience to consider who are the real victims, captors and greedy parties with the three main characters swapping roles throughout. The film has its lulls but comes alive during a number of tense scenes and Plemons delightfully sells the sleaziness of his wealthy and selfish silicon CEO. Another area of note is a brilliantly retro score by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans which echoes the best of Hitchcock and 50s noir. It’s a slow but rewarding burn of a film and its minimalistic style may not be have the oomph some viewers may be seeking. But with three well-played leads and a number of decent twists in the narrative, Windfall provides a suitcase full of unexpected but satisfying rewards for fans of low-budget indies. ★★★½☆
Black Crab (2022) Dir. Adam Berg
This Swedish flick has a trailer that makes you roll your eyes with what looks like a zero-budget straight-to-the-DVD-bin-of-shame affair. But to be fair, it actually contains a little more than most of the average action schlock recently released (well, just). The ridiculous premise sees a world ravaged by war with a team of soldiers recruited for a special task that means traversing across a frozen sea on ice skates. Their mission is led by Noomi Rapace’s Caroline Edh who is promised that not only will success end the war, but she will be reunited with her lost daughter. I have a soft spot for Rapace, an actress who has a varied output but sadly with varying success. A big yes to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Trip and What Happened to Monday, but far less for the awful Bright, Rupture and Unlocked. However, with her involvement the film is very watchable and its soldiers-on-ice premise is less of a gimmick and plays a real role in the film. A sequence where we witness dozens of bodies frozen in ice at night is strikingly well done. And it also delivers real stunt work, very little (or well done) CGI and the cinematography is more than solid – looking like, well, a film rather than the shitty digital video style of many a modern action film. It’s hardly an Oscar winner – with the soldiers’ inter-fighting, double-crossing and personal conflicts being straight out of the Aliens play book. BUT with enough cinematic flourishes here and there and the likeable Rapace keeping the film off its backside, Black Crab provides a few pleasant diversions for those wanting a return to the earnest low-budget genre thrills of a 1990s actioner. ★★★☆☆
Michael Sales
