Raw (2017) (French Language)

Review

99min

Genre:     Drama, Horror

Director:  Julia Ducournau

Cast:       Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella…and more

Writer:    Julia Ducournau

-Synopsis-

A young, French vegetarian veterinary student undergoes an extreme transformation after her formative and alarming college experiences, unleashing disturbing carnal proclivities and a dark penchant for flesh in this stylistic and provocative indie directorial debut from writer/director Julia Ducournau.

After making waves at last year’s film festival circuit—including nabbing ‘best first feature’ at the London Film Festival—and shocking select international cinema audiences, Ducournau’s highly provocative and equally impressive feature film debut hits UK cinemas, treating us to a gruesome and blood-soaked meditation on our most savage instincts . . . and perhaps the most unconventional coming-of-age story you’re likely to see for a while.

Garance Marillier stars as young academic high achiever ‘Justine’, struggling with the peer pressures of being a freshman when she joins her older sister ‘Alex’ (Ella Rumpf) at her isolated veterinary university—where the student body hierarchy is strict and the hazing rituals extreme. When an encounter of the flesh uncovers the dark carnal desires hidden deep inside her, Justine’s ‘awakening’ puts her on a destructive path which will unravel some troubling secrets and surely lead to tragedy.

Long before its UK release, ‘Raw’ has been preceded by notoriety and some convenient hype, with audiences reportedly vomiting in the aisles and cinemas offering complimentary sick bags. And although this film is certainly provocative and will be shocking for many, with grisly scenes of moderate savagery that are not for the blood-squeamish, for true fans of extreme gore and shock horror this might be a disappointment which barely registers on their scale—proving more of a horrific stylistic art-house indie than a true horror picture.

Instead Ducournau conceives and crafts a more nuanced and layered but still visceral and disturbing story here, about a sheltered teen who discovers all the dark pleasures of the flesh—and her own troubling urges—becoming an outsider even in a school with extreme traditions and unusual students.

‘Raw’ uncomfortably marries the violence and savagery with sexuality and self-discovery, in a truly unconventional story of a girl’s sexual awakening and blossoming into womanhood—but in the most horrific and troubling context imaginable, a deliberate and extreme metaphor for the monstrosity of peer pressure, the stark trials of adolescence and what women go through to fit into society.

This is also a warning story about mankind’s continuous collective struggle against our savage nature, and how we’re always only a few steps away from giving in to the base instincts for which we’ve built a society to suppress and avoid, but in this case from a distinctly feminine perspective where the predatory roles are reversed. ‘Raw’ is also a dark parable about the supposed savagery of carnivorism, and the sanctity of animal life—comparable to that of humanity in some people’s eyes.

A French-Belgian production set in France but filmed in Belgium, ‘Raw’ is beautifully shot by Ruben Impens—who takes full advantage of the University of Liège’s spartan architecture, some clinical settings and plenty of movie blood of course—to create a backdrop for instinctual and youthful depravity. Underscored by a powerful soundtrack of synth sounds from regular Ben Wheatley composer Jim Williams, which gives the film another layer of unsettling atmosphere and momentum.

Young Garance Marillier proves a revelation in the lead role, in a physically and emotionally naked performance as a character who undergoes an alarming transformation, but maintains a level of humanity, providing the audience with something to empathise with as she struggles against inexplicable impulses. Meanwhile Ella Rumpf also shines as her more impulsive sister—much more at ease with her own insidious instincts—in what turns out to be a bizarre tale of sisterly love . . . and a slightly perverse family drama.

Thanks to its stark and deliberately disquieting nature, ‘Raw’ is no doubt an acquired taste of a film, pun intended. Despite its unconventionally and provocatively delivered existential musings and the metaphoric quality of the narrative, Ducournau’s story is morally questionable, painting the central proclivities as seductive and somewhat challenging society’s ultimate taboo (which exists for good reason). While seemingly indulging in the increasingly popular and misguided culture of ‘ flying the freak flag high’ . . . no matter how freaky.

There’s also the small matter of all the hype, and the simple fact that this isn’t really a horror picture in the classic sense of the genre. But for us it’s much more than that, an atmospheric, visually alluring and deliberately provocative art-house drama with extreme themes and plenty to say about our society. All wrapped in a tight and well-executed little package which is often darkly comical (sometimes unintentionally), sexually charged but more carnal than erotic—and which thankfully avoids too much of the all-too-common stylistic indie filler, making it an engrossing and troubling experience throughout.

The Bottom Line . . .

Although it will no doubt divide audience opinion, gruesomely delighting many and appalling others, while disappointing some, ‘Raw’ is much more than a perverse indie shocker for an amoral generation. Instead Julia Ducournau’s accomplished and thoroughly impressive feature debut is a grisly but thoroughly captivating meditation on our savage nature, and the society we’ve built around it—a memorable and bizarre coming-of-age story that you won’t able to shake-off, and a promising start for what may prove to be a new female force in film.

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