Raw (2016)Teens that go off to college are often exposed to a variety of taboo-shattering experiences--cannibalism isn't usually one of them. Raw (2016) is a horror movie about a young woman named Justine (Garance Marillier), who has recently been admitted into a prestigious veterinary school, where her sister, Alexia a.k.a "Alex" (Ella Rumpf), has already been studying. Justine was raised a vegetarian by her controlling mother (Joana Preiss) and her soft-spoken father (Laurent Lucas); but after she is coerced to eat a rabbit kidney as a part of an ongoing and complicated series of hazing rituals, Justine gradually awakens to dark, new cravings for raw flesh.
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Written and directed by Julia Ducournau, Raw is a metaphor-driven psychological horror movie that juxtaposes Justine's transformation with other, less outrageous changes experienced by adolescents blossoming into adulthood. Justine is like a princess by her parents; it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that she has never had a rebellious moment in her life before she came to the college--she even shows up wearing a t-shirt with a unicorn and a rainbow on it. Her first night at the dorm is interrupted by a thunderous ruckus, which begins the first of many bizarre rituals inducting the new students. The "elders" (i.e. more tenured students) wake the "rookies" up and hurl their mattresses into the courtyard, and then force them to crawl on their hands and knees into a decadent rave. This rush week is excessive, and Justine is shocked by the rampant hedonism surrounding her. After making contact with Alex, her sister takes her into a laboratory filled with preserved animals and mad science props, which is also where pictures of prior alumni are kept--including those of their parents. Alex informs Justine that those who refused to participate in the "initiation" are dubbed "traitors", and have their heads in the photos cut off. This thinly veiled threat of alienation is consistent with the kinds of dangerous hazing commonly found in schools, and the catastrophic damage it causes is evident in Justine's downfall. Justine's presumably conservative upbringing is challenged in other ways, like how she shares a dorm with a homosexual male roommate named Adrian (Rabah Naït Oufella). Justine's dogmatic adherence to vegetarianism has been drilled into by her parents, yet without any definite reason. Alex pressures her to "be cool" and join in the ritual to eat the kidney, and abandons her dietary restrictions over time. She starts by sneaking a hamburger patty into her lab coat; when Adrian takes her out for shawarma, the scene is played to resemble college kids scoring booze. Justine's anxiety mounts from questioning her insulated upbringing, the embarrassing hazing episodes, and having her latent perfectionism challenged by an ornery professor (Jean-Louis Sbille), who criticizes her on failing to live up to her reputation as a wunderkind. She wakes up in the middle of the night covered in a terrible rash; the school nurse (Marion Vernoux) tells her that it was from food poisoning (i.e. the rabbit kidney), but the scene is deliberately paced to suggest that her rash was psychosomatic, occurring after she scored less-than-perfect on an exam. After the same spiteful professor tells her that it would have been better if she had not even enrolled, Justine starts nervously chewing on her own hair--a compulsive tick that speaks to other uncontrolled impulses yet to come. In one of the many graphic and gross scenes in Raw, Justine subsequently regurgitates her own hair, and another girl in the restroom mistakes her for being bulimic--in this decidedly messed up veterinary school, this seems like one of the least unhealthy habits.
Raw pivots sharply into body horror approximately half way into the film. Alex has been trying to mold Justine into becoming an edgy and sexy girl like her, which includes a bikini wax. In a freak accident, Alex's finger becomes dismembered, and she passes out. Justine--who had only heretofore indulged in late-night fridge raids for raw cow tongue--is compelled by her sister's digit, which she nervously devours. This nauseating act represents the death knell of Justine's innocence, crossing a threshold into forbidden territory. Surprisingly, Alex conceals Justine's shocking act--which she witnessed as she regained consciousness--and instead blames their dog for it. This prompts their father to utter one of the most chillingly poignant lines, about how an animal that tastes human flesh cannot be trusted anymore. Alex reveals that this aberrant urge is not unique to Justine, and tries to invite her sister into her world, but only succeeds in disgusting Justine even more. Their cannibalism is a metaphor that could stand in for any destructive or socially unacceptable behavior, and depicting it in such a visceral tableau when so many other taboos have since become commonplace is crucial to achieve shock and horror from the audience. It's almost surprising that Alex and Justine are the only recognized cannibals at their school, given how depraved it is. (It boggles the mind that any of these kids ever graduated.) Justine's addiction to human flesh is accompanied by black outs, often leaving her in highly precarious situations when she regains consciousness. A video is circulated of Alex taunting Justine with a cadaver at a "party", cajoling her to "bite it", and Justine is humiliated when she learns that it has been shared with the whole school. Justine's shedding of her youthful naivete is treated like a literal metamorphosis. When she visits the nurse about her rash, her skin peels off like a snake's; and when she watches Adrian play basketball, she becomes so aroused by his physique that her nose bleeds. She reveals her resentment toward her self-righteous domineering mother after Alex is admitted to the hospital, cursing her for coddling Alex. Her father recognizes that this is a part of her growing up, and he offers her a cigarette; Justine didn't smoke before going to school, but he knows she must after experiencing the world outside of her insulated home. Raw uses its gruesome imagery to convey the anxiety and unease that comes with experiencing so many other disquieting firsts in adolescence--from losing one's virginity to diving into drugs with reckless abandon.
Recommended for: Fans of a shockingly graphic horror movie that uses cannibalism as a metaphor for a coming-of-age story. The vivid and unsettling content marks it as a part of a variety of films dubbed "New French Extremity", and is suited to audiences with a strong stomach and a taste for its metaphor-driven narrative.
Raw pivots sharply into body horror approximately half way into the film. Alex has been trying to mold Justine into becoming an edgy and sexy girl like her, which includes a bikini wax. In a freak accident, Alex's finger becomes dismembered, and she passes out. Justine--who had only heretofore indulged in late-night fridge raids for raw cow tongue--is compelled by her sister's digit, which she nervously devours. This nauseating act represents the death knell of Justine's innocence, crossing a threshold into forbidden territory. Surprisingly, Alex conceals Justine's shocking act--which she witnessed as she regained consciousness--and instead blames their dog for it. This prompts their father to utter one of the most chillingly poignant lines, about how an animal that tastes human flesh cannot be trusted anymore. Alex reveals that this aberrant urge is not unique to Justine, and tries to invite her sister into her world, but only succeeds in disgusting Justine even more. Their cannibalism is a metaphor that could stand in for any destructive or socially unacceptable behavior, and depicting it in such a visceral tableau when so many other taboos have since become commonplace is crucial to achieve shock and horror from the audience. It's almost surprising that Alex and Justine are the only recognized cannibals at their school, given how depraved it is. (It boggles the mind that any of these kids ever graduated.) Justine's addiction to human flesh is accompanied by black outs, often leaving her in highly precarious situations when she regains consciousness. A video is circulated of Alex taunting Justine with a cadaver at a "party", cajoling her to "bite it", and Justine is humiliated when she learns that it has been shared with the whole school. Justine's shedding of her youthful naivete is treated like a literal metamorphosis. When she visits the nurse about her rash, her skin peels off like a snake's; and when she watches Adrian play basketball, she becomes so aroused by his physique that her nose bleeds. She reveals her resentment toward her self-righteous domineering mother after Alex is admitted to the hospital, cursing her for coddling Alex. Her father recognizes that this is a part of her growing up, and he offers her a cigarette; Justine didn't smoke before going to school, but he knows she must after experiencing the world outside of her insulated home. Raw uses its gruesome imagery to convey the anxiety and unease that comes with experiencing so many other disquieting firsts in adolescence--from losing one's virginity to diving into drugs with reckless abandon.
Recommended for: Fans of a shockingly graphic horror movie that uses cannibalism as a metaphor for a coming-of-age story. The vivid and unsettling content marks it as a part of a variety of films dubbed "New French Extremity", and is suited to audiences with a strong stomach and a taste for its metaphor-driven narrative.