Donya, a lonely Afghan fortune cookie factory worker, is promoted to writing the fortunes inside each cookie. Seeking connection, she decides to send a message out to the world through a cookie, unsure where it will lead.

For in-depth thoughts on Fremont, please see my colleague Cameron Ritter’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Fremont arrives on Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation in its original 1.33:1 that captures the aesthetic intention perfectly. The film is presented with an intimate and gorgeously realized black-and-white palette throughout that preserves the precise contrast with admirable control. This artistic choice reflects how the character feels to a degree, and it thankfully does not seem absentmindedly composed to capitalize on a trend. This is a beautiful film with pleasant shots filled with an impressive amount of detail. The highlights hold firm without veering towards blooming while the black levels stay strong and avoid any compression artifacts. The transfer does showcase a hint of banding in a few shots, but this is not a persistent issue. Music Box Films Home Entertainment has delivered a strong presentation for this film.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that captures the gentle atmosphere of this story. Dialogue is the prominent aspect of this feature, and it comes through clearly without ever being overshadowed by the sound effects or the score. The environmental effects create a nice baseline of texture that makes the space feel more lived-in. This is a low-key film that rarely experiences significant activity in the low end, but it delivers some texture on occasion. The sound design complements the visuals with all of the elements precisely positioned properly. The film implements music that sleeks through the room deliberately. This is a carefully realized release that brings the movie to life as you would want. There are optional English and English SDH subtitles provided here.

Special Features

Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Fremont is a low-key independent dramedy that makes you lean in to experience the world of our main character. Anaita Wali Zada is perfectly deadpan in the lead role while still showing subtle signs to indicate all is not as ideal as her placid surface may indicate. The humor is rarely uproariously funny, yet sometimes a line reading or an unexpected interaction will cause a big laugh to come out of nowhere. There are key members of the ensemble who really help things along when Donya is being a more interior presence, and everyone seems to have a great dynamic with Zada. The movie will be too low-stakes and gentle for some audiences, but this is a rewarding effort for arthouse enthusiasts. Music Box Films Home Entertainment has given this film a Blu-Ray release featuring a fantastic A/V presentation and some worthwhile special features. Recommended

Fremont is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Music Box Films Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.