Fresh Kill
Critical response and legacy
Critical response and legacy
----------------------------

In a review for *[The Los Angeles Times](/wiki/The_Los_Angeles_Times "The Los Angeles Times")*, critic Kevin Thomas offered praise for Cheang's direction and Hagedorn's writing, noting that the film's "interaction of a deteriorating environment, burgeoning cyberspace and mounting urban paranoia \[...] create a vividly contemporary background" for a "gentle lesbian love story." The [Quad Cinema](/wiki/Quad_Cinema "Quad Cinema"), where the film had its U.S. premiere, called *Fresh Kill* "an underseen radical feminist gem" and favorably compared it to *[Brazil](/wiki/Brazil_%281985_film%29 "Brazil (1985 film)")* and *[Born in Flames](/wiki/Born_in_Flames "Born in Flames")*. Conversely, [Janet Maslin](/wiki/Janet_Maslin "Janet Maslin") of *[The New York Times](/wiki/The_New_York_Times "The New York Times")* offered praise for the film's soundtrack but described *Fresh Kill* as "aimless, arty self\-indulgence carried to a remarkable extreme," while [Nathan Rabin](/wiki/Nathan_Rabin "Nathan Rabin") of *[The A.V. Club](/wiki/The_A.V._Club "The A.V. Club")* surmised that the film was "too confused and disjointed to be anything but a well\-intentioned, intermittently interesting failure."

The film is noted for its themes of solidarity by marginalized groups against racism and sexism; its condemnation of transnational capitalism; and its depiction of how "resistance circulates through networks originally designed to facilitate the exchange of labor, commodities, and capital." In her analysis of *Fresh Kill*, Gina Marchetti notes how the film depicts "the emancipatory potential of the digital," offering "hope for seizing the means of communication by reflecting on its own production and providing an image of radical media empowerment to inspire others." The film is noted for its influence on [hacker subculture](/wiki/Hacker_subculture "Hacker subculture"), with a 1995 article about the film for the now\-defunct hacker publication *InfoNation* containing one of the first uses of the term "[hacktivism](/wiki/Hacktivism "Hacktivism")".


What is the emancipatory potential of the digital in the context of Fresh Kill?