10/17: Raw

I don't know why I'm even bothering saying it anymore, but yeah, still behind. This might be my longest behind streak ever in a binge. Welp, what can ya do. Yesterday's movie:

10/17

Damn... the French be crazy. Today's film was the horrendously warped and twisted, you guessed it, French film Raw. Let me offer this as a warning to any of my vegetarian buddies out there, or really anyone with a weak stomach: maybe go watch some feel-good movie instead. Because ya know, if not, this is what you have to look forward to:

Yeah, like... damn. And that's tame for the rest of the movie.

So... consider yourself warned. Anywho, Raw finds young vegetarian Justine entering veterinary school, a school where her parents both attended and her older sister, Alexia, currently is. Apparently French veterinary schools are lawless wastelands where all degrees of hazing are not only condoned but celebrated, to the point where the school is pretty much a constant chaotic mess. During one of these hazing rituals Justine, who has been a lifelong vegetarian along with the rest of her family, is coerced into eating meat. This act creates in her an insatiable hunger... FOR FLESH! 

BUM

BUM

BUMMMMMMMMM

Joking aside, damn... this movie is brutal. In one scene (well, I'll admit it, multiple scenes, but one in particular) I literally squirmed and screeched in my seat, covering my eyes to not watch. It wasn't even that gory per se, but just the raw (pun ABSOLUTELY intended) nature of watching someone consume human flesh left me immeasurably uncomfortable. 

Really, that's a good description for where the movie leaves you in the end: immeasurably uncomfortable. When I was getting ready for bed afterwards, I looked in the mirror and suddenly had this fear: what if I ever ate something that made me have an insatiable hunger like Justine? The thought was a terrifying one, and if a movie can get that much in your head that's gotta be the definition of successful horror. Like the body horror of Cronenberg or the uncomfortable nature of a movie like Dead Girl (that movie still messes me up), Raw truly does get under your skin. Your yummy, yummy skin.

It would be an immense disservice to Raw to only talk about it as simply a film about cannibalism. It's far deeper than your usual zombie or cannibal fare, and all human flesh eating aside, it's actually a beautiful coming of age tale. Justine, as she enters veterinary school, is greeted by a world beyond anything she has experienced. The world is brutal and nearly lawless, with it's hazing, challenges to sexuality, and pressure to leave any shreds of childhood behind. The school is full of insane parties, open sex, and nearly constant filth and degradation. It's a huge change for Justine, who, along with her increasing hunger, finds who she is as a young woman in the process. Doesn't that just give you the warm cannibal fuzzies? 

Julia Ducournau, the writer/director, proves herself with Raw to be a brilliant filmmaker. Whereas anyone writing a movie about cannibalism would be tempted to make your movie solely about the horror of that, Ducournau goes deeper. She explores young womanhood, family, and growing up, all through a terrifying lens. The movie is at once unsettling and moving; a remarkable feat for a movie about a girl that wants to eat people. 

10/10

(A note: I struggled with my rating of Raw. As much as I recognize how good of a film it is, it isn't exactly my type of horror film. I struggled with whether to rate the film based on my own tastes or on the quality level of the film. In this case I went with the quality of the film itself, which is certainly a 10)