Raw (2016) film review - a masterpiece in body horror

★★★★★

‘Raw’ is a French Horror which follows lifelong vegetarian Justine as she engages in the unusual initiation rituals of a veterinary school.

Director: Julia Ducournau. Starring: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Naït Oufella, Laurent Lucas. 18 cert, 99 min.

I’ve wanted to review this film for a while, as it has to be one of my favourite horror movies of all time. I only hope that I can do it justice. ‘Raw’ is a French-Belgium horror drama which follows lifelong vegetarian Justine as she engages in the unusual initiation rituals of a renowned veterinary school. Forced to eat a raw rabbit’s kidney, Justine develops a taste for meat which soon turns into something more sinister. This film is graphic and bloody, containing vivid imagery which will linger in your mind long after the credits have rolled. However, it also documents the efforts of a young girl to find her place in a male-dominated environment. 'Raw’ can be viewed as a metaphor for a sexual awakening, or simply a uniquely intelligent body horror; either way, this film is a masterpiece. 

Raw (2016) film poster artwork

A fearless documentation of female sexuality and cannibalism

A shocking work of art illustrated using the canvas of the human body, ‘Raw’ is the stunning debut of French director and screenwriter Julia Ducournau. Though nowhere near as gruesome as body horrors like ‘Starry Eyes’ and Marian Dora’s controversial 2006 film ‘Cannibal,’ 'Raw’ still managed to appall and disgust at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, with some viewers reportedly vomiting and passing out. I believe this is testimony to Ducournau’s in-your-face style and bold navigation of highly taboo topics. ‘Raw’ is always fearless as it documents female sexuality and cannibalism, making it a highly compelling watch. Not to mention what is probably one of the best title theme songs of any contemporary horror movie. Listen to it here.

Garance Marillier delivers an incredible performance as Justine, a young girl thrust into a chaotic, often scary environment with very few allies. The one person she is able to turn to is her older sister Alexia. Played by Ella Rumpf, Alexia is a senior in the same veterinary school. Assertive and confident, she is the driving force behind Justine’s change over the course of the film, encouraging her to break her vegetarianism and indulge in her cravings for meat. Bound together by their shared love of human flesh, Alexia and Justine’s relationship is anything but conventional. I guess it really does run in the family. 

Garance Marillier in Raw (2016)

Disturbed culinary cravings and an all you can eat buffet

Warning: contains spoilers. Perhaps the most shocking scene in ‘Raw’ is the one where Alexia attempts to give her younger sister a bikini wax. It all goes horribly wrong when Alexia attempts to cut the wax from Justine’s skin, severing part of her own finger in the process. With Alexia passed out in shock, Justine is unable to contain her appetite any longer; picking up the bloody tip of her sister’s finger, she eats it. This is the first taste of human flesh that Justine gets, and is the point of no return for the film’s protagonist. From this point on ‘Raw’ culminates to a brutal climax, with Justine’s lust for her gay roommate Adrien and disturbed culinary cravings diverging to generate an outstanding blood-soaked finale. 

After a worrying video circulates around the school in which a wasted Justine tries to repeatedly bite the arm of a morgue corpse, the two siblings engage in a fight. However, it soon evolves into an all you can eat buffet, at which point Alexia and Justine are separated by two other students. Following this public display of depravity, Justine spends the night with her aforementioned roommate Adrien, played by Rabah Naït Oufella. When she wakes up in the morning, Adrien is unresponsive. Upon further inspection, Justine is horrified to discover that he is dead, with one of his legs having been almost entirely devoured. Though ‘Raw’ is not consistently gory in the way many other horrors are, Ducournau’s relatively reserved approach makes the film’s grisly scenes all the more effective. 

A message of female empowerment

At this point, Justine discovers that it was Alexia who killed Adrien; we see her in the kitchen, covered in the blood of her victim. The strength of her familial love prevents Justine from killing her sister. Instead, she takes her to the shower to clean her off in a scene which presents a shift in both of their characters. Where Alexia was once the one in control, her younger sister appears more measured now, displaying a clear growth in confidence which reads as a message of female empowerment. This message resonates particularly strongly at the end of 'Raw.’ Justine is sent back home to her family, where her Father sits her down to explain that none of what happened is her or her sister’s fault. Unbuttoning his shirt to reveal multiple bite marks on his chest, he tells Justine that her Mother suffers from the same affliction as her, and always has. ‘I’m sure you’ll find a solution honey,’ he says.

Should you watch this before you die?

Overall, ‘Raw’ is a gruesome, clever addition to the body horror genre which I really can’t fault. A film about female empowerment and sexual discovery where cannibalism acts as a metaphor for wider social issues, Ducournau’s work is perhaps one of the best horror movies of the decade. Its powerful use of bloody imagery as a plot device is refreshing in an era where many films rely on jump scares and meaningless gore to provide their scares. If you haven’t already watched ‘Raw,’ I would highly recommend adding it to your list.