Raw: Sensual Cannibalism
Vegans, beware.
Julia Ducornau’s Raw is the antithesis of the vegan movement, turning it on its head as a strict vegeterian Justine (Garence Marillier) begins her first semester at a veterinary school. She is forced to participate in initiation ceremonies for new students and, in that ceremony, is forced to eat raw meat. Justine’s taste and apetite for meat becomes an addiction as she starts to develop an affinity for human flesh after eating her sister (Ella Rumpf)’s finger.
Remember Georges Franju’s 1949 documentary Le sang des bêtes in which we see the brutal conditions of animals in the slaughterhouses of Paris. Franju’s 22-minute documentary is brutal, because it contrasts the peaceful life of Paris suburbs with how human treats animals inside slaughterhouses. You’re left gobsmacked, not wanting to eat meat for the rest of your life. Raw is the exact opposite of Franju’s Le sang des bêtes. As we face a climate crisis and scientists beg us to reduce our meat consumption by half, Ducornau makes meat (and flesh) eating highly sensual in this compelling film of a young, bright 16-year old on a downward spiral with an addiction that surely won’t end and will only worsen.
The most absurd thing about Raw is that you, the audience member, starts going along for the ride, even though the plot of the movie is highly absurd, until it becomes dead serious. The scene in which Justine eats Alexia (Rumpf)’s finger is the film’s best sequence — and its most brutal. The score from Jim Williams kicks in, your eyes start to enlarge as you can’t believe what Justine is doing. She takes the dripping blood from her finger, puts it in her hand, drinks it, and starts to eat the finger so sensually and slowly, you might think you’re watching a Pacificsound3003 video on “Le riz et le poulet”, but alas. Williams’ score is so mesmerizing and complements Justine’s turn so well, that you know that once the score kicks in, Justine can’t turn back to her normal, vegan life as she follows her impulses and starts wanting to eat human flesh.
She’s got one target in mind, Adrien (Rabah Naït Oufella). The scene in which she looks at Adrien’s shirtless body is fantastic. Garence Marillier is a revelation, in total comfort as Justine. Her facial experessions in that particular sequence conveys everything she feels on the inside, and her nose starts to bleed because she starts to crave flesh. Once Justine makes out with Adrien, she can’t help not wanting to eat his flesh. The scene is highly energetic, brilliantly acted on all fronts, but wonderfully directed. It isn’t your typical “make-out” scene, as Justine can’t help following her own cannibalistic impulses, until she starts nibbling her own arm in desperation. The film is chock-full of unsettling scenes. Surprisingly, the most disturbing one involves Justine retching strands of hair she ate in class to fill her uncontrollable craving for meat. The sequence is nauseating and made me flinch a couple of times. It makes the scene in which she fights Alexia quite tame in comparaison. As soon as Justine eats Alexia’s finger, her craving for meat (and now human flesh) takes a downward spiral. The movie twists a bright, young, intelligent woman to someone who can’t control her own impulses and becomes the school’s freak — by not being able to control her cravings for human flesh. One scene adresses that brilliantly; the scene in which Justine is recorded wanting to bite a dead man’s arm at a school party and/or the scene in which she is forced to make out with someone, covered in paint, but bites his lower lip instead.
Raw is deeply unsettling, but also fantastically seducing. Garence Marillier is absolutely hypnotic as Justine and her transformation from strict vegetarian to cannibal is mesmerizingly terrifying. The cinematography and color palette is stark and beautiful, alongside the best music score of 2017 by Jim Williams. If you stick with it, you will be compelled by the film’s dark and twisted turn, especially the relationship between Justine/Adrien and Justine/Alexia which are the highlights of the film, and the bizzarely violent cannibal sequences that adapt PacificSound3003’s ASMR concept-art brilliantly. It’s one of the best films of 2017 that I won’t forget anytime soon.
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