Raw (2016)

To start things off, I want to talk about this film I saw last week. I had been waiting for a long time to see it but there weren’t any places screening it nearby. When I realized that it was showing at one theater in Tijuana, I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity. Raw is a French film by first time director Julia Ducournau. It deals with a young teenager, Justine, who is forced to taste meat for the first time in her life. She then begins to develop a strong liking to the taste all while experiencing big changes in her life. Some of these include living away from home, hazing, sexual feelings, and most importantly, her relationship with her sister which I will talk about further down. After the movie ended and I was exiting the theater, I didn’t really know how to feel about it I just knew that it was brilliant and unlike anything I had seen before.

The film introduces Justine, a timid and quiet vegetarian, going off to veterinary school. Right from the start, you already know that the world this film lives in is far from ordinary. This bizarre and wicked world helps set the tone for the gruesome and sexual awakening Justine goes through. She is forcefully made to eat a rabbit kidney during hazing week, and this sets in motion a series of events that get more and more intense as the film progresses. The set up is very cliche to the horror genre but the way that Ducournau puts in on screen is what makes it very unique. She takes the overused topic of cannibalism and creates a fresh take on it, unlike Eli Roth’s failed attempt with The Green Inferno (2013). I won’t go very much into detail on the film since I am encouraging you to watch it but I will talk about two of my favorite scenes just so you can be prepared to look at visual mastery. The first scene is Justine’s first taste of human flesh. Grace Marillier delivers a solid performance and in this scene you can literally see her battling her emotions on whether to continue to go with her primitive instincts or to control herself. In the second scene, Justine is calmly viewing from a distance the students as they are playing a soccer match. The way she observes one particular person however is what blew my mind away. You can feel what Justine is feeling, you understand her desire and even though it’s a desire for human blood and flesh, the scene is completely sexual.

Apart from Justine’s awakening, the film deals a great part about the relationship Justine has with her older sister. The relationship between them feels very real thanks in part to their superb acting. It perfectly describes how family can be and that no matter what happens between family, you will always have a strong love connection between one another. One scene they’ll be bonding and in the next they would completely hate each other. Towards the end of the film you will have a better understanding of this and why Justine and her sister, Alexia, act like this towards each other.

Overall, Raw is an excellent film. If you have an open mind and don’t mind reading the english subtitles you will be amazed by it. The cinematography is stunning and the acting goes from good to excellent. For those that don’t like horror, don’t worry this isn’t a cheap horror film with cliche jump scares and cued loud music. Trust me, Hollywood will somehow ruin it by making a remake of this film. MARK. MY. WORDS.

After every post, I will try and include links to the film or tell you where you can watch it, whether on Netflix or Amazon Prime or if it’s still in theaters. Unfortunately, this film isn’t being shown anywhere at this time and it doesn’t have a specific DVD release date. If you are willing to and live in the Tijuana area, then there is one showtime per day at Plaza Monarca so I recommend to see it before they remove it. I will warn that some scenes are very intense and if you are easily disgusted with blood, then beware.