The feature length directorial debut by French writer/director Julia Docournau is a gut-wrenching tale of adolescent transformation.
Raw follows Justine, a teenager embarking on her first year of university studies at a prestigious veterinary college. Upon arrival at the college we quickly learn that Justine is following in the footsteps of both her sister Alexia and their parents.
Justine is an idealist who strongly pushes animal rights and is also a devout vegetarian, thus she is horrified when student initiation rituals require her to be dowsed in blood and eat a raw rabbit kidney. These moments trigger a chain reaction of dominoes falling and unleashes a long suppressed primal desire in Justine.
With the themes of finding one’s self in conjunction with cannibalism make it difficult not to compare this film with recent arthouse hit Neon Demon. Both films deliver graphic gut churning moments but Raw takes these to an entirely new level.
★★★1/2
