Year of Release | 2016 |
Director | Julia Ducournau |
THE PLOT
Ok, Raw was a different one for me. It is a French language film that revolves around a young vegetarian girl, Justine. She is about to start studying with her sister at a veterinarian college. Upon starting up at the university she is subjected to some quite bizarre and humiliating initiation rituals. One of which involves eating some raw meat. Of course Justine’s vegan body is not used to this and breaks out in a bizarre rash.
Justine is not used to the taste of meat but quickly develops a predeliction for flesh. In a bizarre mishap during a female grooming proceedure, Justine accidently chops off her sisters finger and takes a bite. There begins her bloodlust. Obviously this has some great potential for gore. Whilst this movie is not what I’d particularly call a horror film (it’s more in the art house vein) it does deliver some rather disturbing scenes. The violence when it does happen is confronting and rather graphic.
THE VERDICT
This is an avante guard film. It will be strange to those who haven’t stepped out of the norm of the genre. The film itself captures the imagination and is very easy to get lost in. Basically once the film started in I was pretty much hooked. For the gore fiends out there it does however have some rather compelling gory moments. The film isn’t flat out horror, but uses what horror it has to its full effect. It succeeds in creating some genuinely disturbing moments. Its more of a cerebal film than many others and for this reason the horror does seem more full-on than many other films. When the watcher starts to sympathise with the main character Justine it really kicks in. Obviously I don’t want to spoil the fun for you guys but the plot has some neat and unexpected twists to keep you guessing!
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