Review of Raw (2017) by Brett B — 28 May 2017

More a visual metaphor than an actual dynamic story, RAW nevertheless has some potency, even if the final result isn't entirely satisfying. To label RAW a horror movie does it a disservice, because while it trades in some ideas of the genre, and is unafraid to viscerally shock and disgust the audience, I really think this is more a satire than anything else.

There's some really darkly funny stuff in here (which is surely intentional; if it isn't, then I guess that says more about my sensibilities than anything else), and it paints an extremely heightened portrait of college hazing and initiation that is too outrageous to really take literally (or at least it struck me that way; the kind of ritual, nonstop hazing and humiliation done to students by students is so utterly foreign to me, that I find it impossible to buy as realistic).

RAW uses its basic genre trappings - including the classic notion of cannibalism - to really act as a metaphor for one young woman's coming of age experience at college. In the lead role, Garanace Marillier is absolutely terrific, and she ably sells the character's transition from shy, sheltered girl to a more sinister, feral person.

The movie has been labeled as "extreme" and the like by many, but there's nothing in here I found to be utterly repulsive or abhorrent; there's some gross and disturbing stuff, certainly, but the tone and presentation of that content may be what people are reacting to the most.

At the end of the day, it's an interesting movie anchored by dynamite central performance, but I don't think it's saying anything terribly new with its thematic statements. Still, director Julia Ducournau clearly has an eye and a voice, and it will be interesting to see what she tackles next.