Review of Raw (2017) by Aw C — 29 May 2017

Raw is a movie that has gained a huge amount of hype over the last couple of months due to its very graphic portrayal of cannibalism and there have been reports of people fainting at film festivals where the movie was initially showed.

I have to admit, no matter how much I try not to be hyped up by reports like those, I couldn't wait to see the movie because of what I've been hearing about it. Thankfully, Raw was well worth the wait! Raw is directed by Julia Ducournau who I've never heard of before and this is her first feature-length movie.

For a first time movie director, this is a huge achievement! The movie follows Justine who is just starting veterinary school to which her sister, Alexia, also goes to. Her parents drop her off at the school and thus starts her new life.

I'd hate to say more to ruin the movie for some, because the trailers for this movie were very vague, so I'm warning you that I'll be describing some very important plot points ahead! The vet school that Justine & Alexia go to is very, very odd.

It almost seems like the students are running the school and not the faculty. There's a very explicit scene where the older students literally drain a horse of blood and then use that blood to throw it on the newcomers, or rookies as they call them, during the "welcoming ritual".

It's very important to note that Justine is a vegetarian, so after being forced to eat a part of a raw rabbit kidney as a part of the initation, she gets a very bad reaction to it. She begins scratching herself constantly, which leads to some very cringe-worthy scenes as the damage the scratching causes is very graphic, and she also develops a huge hunger for meat! Her roommate is Adrien, a gay student who really enjoys partying.

He isn't a particularly interesting character for most of the movie, but he does become one as the movie gets closer to its end. Not a lot about his character is revealed and it's left to the viewer to piece things together.

For example, he keeps saying to Justine that he doesn't like her sister and that he never hangs out with her, but then he gets a text from her and shows it to Justine, which makes question him about his relationship with Alexia.

He never responds directly, but I thought that was really interesting. Also, Adrien doesn't seem to be very shocked by Justine's cannibal actions which makes the ending quite an interesting one.

Justine's character goes through a lot of changes throughout the movie. At the beginning, she's very shy and keeps to herself, but as she starts to change her appetite, she also starts to change her personality.

While the change may seem like a very drastic one, and one that happens too quickly, I found it to be quite realistic as she is just a teenager. The change is most evident in the scene where she dances in front of the mirror as she listens to a very explicit pop song while putting on make-up.

That was a really great sequence. Alexia is also a very intriguing character. From the very first scene she's in, it's obvious that she and her sister are the polar opposites. Later when it's revealed that she's also a cannibal, it brings up a very interesting question.

Was she also like Justine when she started the vet school? Did she also change after having her first taste of meat? Their parents are both vegetarians and if they didn't let Justine have a single bit of meat, I'm sure they also didn't let Alexia.

But, then again, maybe Alexia did eat meat and the parents realised what it made her be, so they started using the vegetarian diet on Justine after that. I can't say for sure, but that's what I really like about this movie.

The ending itself is very chilling. I adore the way it ended. I will not talk about that because I found it to be very surprising and I really don't want to ruin it. The soundtrack for the movie is stellar! It has that indie/vaporwave/80s feel to it and it really fits with the atmosphere.

The direction is gorgeous and so is the gore! There isn't that much of violence as I thought there was going to be, but it's incredibly graphic and disgusting when it does happen. All in all, Raw is a great movie.

One that will most certainly divide the audience, but it's really just an odd coming-of-age story that we've seen multiple times before, just not with cannibals. I'd highly recommend watching this movie, it lives up to its hype and I don't think you should miss this one out!