Raw - movie review

Raw
Plot: When a young vegetarian undergoes a carnivorous hazing ritual at vet school, an unbidden taste for meat begins to grow in her.
Cast: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella
Director: Julia Ducournau
Certificate: 18 (strong gory images, injury detail)
Runtime: 1hr 39 mins
Release Date: Friday 7th April 2017

Now and again, I have a tendency to react during a movie. What I mean by that is, if a film features a kick-ass action scene, a really funny joke or an unexpected twist, more often than not, I will be that one person to make an audible reaction. Hopefully not annoyingly but still, a reaction nonetheless. When it came to seeing Raw, the amount of times a noise escaped my body is ridiculous. Raw is shocking, violent, foul, disgusting, beautiful, gorgeous and wholly touching. Yeah, we went from shocking to touching in one smooth transition. That's Raw for you folks.

Sensational doesn't even begin to describe the lead performance in this film. Garance Marillier plays Justine, a strictly raised vegetarian who is beginning her first year at a veterinary college. We bare witness to her first week in which the elder students of the college subject her and the other newbies to brutal hazing rituals, all of which begin to take their toll on Justine's mental well-being. It is because of these 'pranks' that Justine slowly ditches her vegetarian upbringing and discovers a taste for meat. As the film progresses, we begin to learn that her cravings eventually go further than simply a donner kebab. Marillier is incredible as this tormented youngster who is driven to the edge by other wild students and her crazy-ass sister. In places, Marillier's performance oozes an unbelievable amount of uncomfortability as we witness her; writhing in agony as a bizarre rash takes over her body, gagging uncontrollably as she coughs up her own hair and eventually, acting like a girl possessed as her cannibalistic tendencies overcome her. It's a performance that is likely to make her a star so there is a chance we could see a lot more of her. On the topic of people I hope to see more of, this is a stunning directorial debut by Julia Ducournau who manages to present a film with cannibalism being a prominent theme, in such an alluring and beautiful manner. The cinematography used here is a thing of wonder. Long takes, rare edits and uncomfortable closeups of disturbing acts make this film the most gorgeous film about cannibals ever made. Ducournau's use of score is also very strong. It's disarming. Loud. One might find it slightly off-putting but I thought that when it jolts into action after a long scene of silence, it gets your heart pumping, but not too much in the hope that Justine doesn't leap through the screen and start feasting on your twitching body.

FACT: When shown on Gothenburg Film Festival, several attendants in the audience fainted and vomited. Over 30 people left the cinema prematurely and they had to take a break in the middle of the movie due to all the turmoil.

It's not all bloody sunshine and gory rainbows for Raw as it does suffer from a fair few flaws. Foreign films aren't the easiest films to pitch to audiences and foreign horror films are even more difficult. More often than not, they're overly artistic (to the point where it puts visual stylings over story), tough to follow (both through subtitles and strange story) and mostly basic acting. A clear example of these issues can be found in Goodnight Mommy, a German psychological horror film which I thought had a lot of potential but was tediously paced. Raw, thankfully, has little to no pacing issues. It does waver come the final act when Justine's relationship with her sister (Kumpf) is tested but apart from that dip, the movie flowed and moved in such a way where my attention never drifted. Unfortunately, and this impacted my enjoyment of the film tremendously, I couldn't stand the sister character and because of that, had a lot of issues with the second half of the film. Ella Kumpf was not on the same level as her co-star which meant that Marillier acted circles around her. Kumpf felt wooden, bratty and was disastrously uninteresting. There is a great scene between her and Marillier where we witness Justine's almost induction-like scene into the world of cannibalism but apart from that, the film would have been better off recasting the sister character entirely or shaping the movie so she has a far lesser role. Raw is like having a holiday in Somalia. For most of your time there, you're enjoying the beaches, the weather and culture but then as soon as the sister appears, it's like seeing an unidentified ship sail past and you panic about whether anyone will be willing to pay your ransom. As far as the actual cannibal goings-on are concerned, that's where Raw would need a disclaimer for any gore fans. Raw plays out as a coming-of-age drama focusing on a teen coming to terms​ with adolescence and leaving her previous self in the past. It just so happens that this new self is that she's partial to a human finger or two. Those expecting an all out gore-fest and horror film are going to be underwhelmed. Ducournau puts her characters before her implementation of body horror and whilst it wasn't​ the film I expected, it was a surprise of the pleasant nature. That's not to say it doesn't go all out when the cannibalism strikes. A particular scene involving a finger cannot be unseen but is wonderfully constructed nonetheless. Unfortunately, Raw did leave me on a sour note as the film attempts a Shyamalan twist of sorts that, even though it does make me rethink the layout of the film, did seem entirely unnecessary.

Something that I will likely not watch again but am glad I did. Marillier and Ducournau are the stars here and prove themselves to be some of the strongest up-and-coming talent the film industry has to offer. The heart it provides was unexpected but worked in the films favour. It's the nicest horror film made in recent memory. It is just a real shame that whenever the sister appeared, the film switched to utter investment from myself to sheer infuriation.

My Verdict: 7/10

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