Hello readers. Here’s a quick review I wrote back in November last year as part of a longer article I never got around to publishing. Raw won’t be for everyone, but if you’re undecided this may help. Also, it was International Women’s Day this week and Julie Ducournau is at the vanguard of a recent wave of great female directors in the horror genre.
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In this post, I talked about films I wouldn’t watch, and extreme cinema. I had my doubts about Raw as it’s been called extreme by many people, including Mark Kermode, who knows a thing or two about that. But I’ve made a commitment to you, dear reader, to watch every film on this Empire list apart from Martyrs, so I strapped my man-pants on and settled down to watch it.
I didn’t find it extreme at all. There was one bit I was a bit grossed out by, but it was funny too, an unfortunate failure of basic first aid protocol when a lady-scaping session goes badly wrong.
It’s not really a spoiler to say this is a movie that uses cannibalism as a plot point, which is probably what caused the reported cinema walkouts and fainting episodes. It won’t be for everyone. But this is not exploitative, like so many films in this sub-genre. It’s closer to something like Ginger Snaps, in the sense that it’s using the awakening of forbidden hunger to look at the experience of two sisters.
Our protagonist, Justine, played by Garance Marillier, begins her studies at veterinary school by undertaking an extreme hazing ritual during which she must eat a raw rabbit kidney to proceed. She’s been raised as a vegetarian, and this will be her first taste of meat. I mean… bacon anyone? Steak? Whatevs.
Anyway, after that, things go a bit Withnail and I:
Justine becomes a kind of an anti-vegan, munching her way through increasingly, er, raw, meat feasts. Along the way, her relationship with her sister, also at the college, deepens and she learns more about herself.
I’m being flippant, but this is a well-made, well-acted and thought-provoking film with some standout scenes. Both Ducournau as director and Marillier as lead unflinchingly commit.
I might have enjoyed it more, but it’s not because it’s a bad movie, by any means. It’s more that I held it at arms-length, for two reasons.
First, there was all the talk beforehand about graphic, disturbing scenes. Well, maybe I’m a little desensitised, but it really wasn’t that bad. Ducournau’s parents are doctors, so perhaps that’s why she shows bodily trauma in blunt detail, but she’s not trying to gross you out. This is not an endurance test. It’s an intelligent film by an intelligent woman with something interesting to say.
She has a frank, objective view of human bodies. If cannibalism troubles you then simply watch something else. However, it relies on your mind, not gore. Good horror disturbs in other ways and understands that there is more fear in what you might see than what you do.
The second reason I hadn’t rushed to watch this is that… well, again it’s about cannibalism… Once you go that route there’s really only one direction you can travel. I wasn’t expecting surprises, but equally, I wasn’t expecting the characterisation and depth. This is a challenging, fun, and genuinely interesting drama. I’ll certainly be watching it again to better appreciate the subtext of some of the scenes.
Ducournau won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year for Titane, a body horror involving a woman conceiving a child with a car. Ooookey dokey then.
That’s all today folks, but back soon.
