When Julia Ducournaus debut feature, Raw, debuted at TIFF in September 2016, it caused a real stir people supposedly fainted at one screening. Then again, its a horror movie at a prestigious film festival, so most of the showings were at midnight. Maybe a couple of viewers just passed out from exhaustion, or conked out following a $14 glass of sippy-cup wine. But that doesnt matter. The myth around Raw, a body-horror coming-of-age story about a young veterinary student who realizes shes a cannibal, was that it was so nightmarish, gory, and vulgar that it could actually make people faint.
This myth has persisted, even after Ducournau told Film School Rejects, Thats not my movie, and expanded on the sentiment in an interview with Jezebel: It doesnt do justice to my movie in the sense that some people are going to be scared to go see my movie when they have no reason to be scared I didnt try to make a scary movie at all. Its not torture porn. There are three scenes in the movie that are hard to watch. Three scenes.
Raw, which follows first-year veterinary student and teen prodigy Justine (Garance Marillier) as she discovers a lust for human flesh, is pretty gruesome. But no more so than Nicolas Winding Refns The Neon Demon, another film about young women cannibals that came out in 2016 billed as a must-watch art film, even though it was empty and pointless. Raw features a lot of blood, though no more than in any Quentin Tarantino film, and with some similar aesthetic aims. Theres gasp! consensual violent sex, which involves several long, excruciating seconds of watching the protagonists teeth sink into her own wrist. But thats no more jarring than a sex scene in the pilot episode of Richard Price and Steven Zaillians The Night Of, which is considered a prestige noir, suitable for any adult eyeballs.
The difference is, Raw was made by a woman, and its about a young womans experience. The focus on its gore might not have malicious intent, but its a handy way of saying Ducournau has stepped outside the lines of good taste. And those lines, it seems, are movable depending on who youre talking about. Nobody called Scorsese a blood-and-gore niche director after Robert DeNiro bit off part of Illeana Douglas face in Cape Fear. Its not as if anyone points out the cannibalism in Silence of the Lambs as a play for shock value, or called the Academy Award-winning film unwatchable despite the fact that its inarguably more challenging to stomach. No, these other horror movies are allowed to stand as psychological thrillers, or, like Jordan Peeles appropriately lauded directorial debut Get Out (which also dabbles in body horror), as biting social critique.
what does she need all that blood for?
This bizarre situation calls to mind the controversy around Annie Bakers Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Flick, which follows a trio of movie-theater employees, and is written to occur in real time. That means there are stretches, sometimes many minutes long, in which the only thing on stage is a man sweeping up popcorn kernels. The play varies in length depending on the director, but when it debuted Off-Broadway at Playwright Horizons in 2013, it was more than three hours long. About 10 percent of the audience walked out at intermission, and Playwright Horizons received enough angry complaints and threats of cancelled subscriptions that they ultimately issued a 900-word letter asking audiences to reconsider. Never mind that at least half a dozen of what are concerned the great works of American drama are essentially four-hour arguments about morphine addiction. That isnt the point behind those accusations, there was more than a whisper of What did she need all that time for?
What does Ducournau, or her young heroine, need all that blood for?
Ducournau doesnt just have blood, she also has sweat, flaking skin, exposed bone, chewed hair, and a bikini wax gone horribly wrong. In effect, she has a womans body turned inside out. In an interview with GQ, Ducournau was asked what she thinks about the handful of other female filmmakers currently dabbling with cannibalism and vampirism like Iranian director Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Bad Batch) or Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska (The Lure). Ducournau said cryptically, I think the fact that women want to tear up the skin is very interesting.
Raws heroine isnt the first to rip up bodies, or to fly in the face of audiences expectations for girlish behavior, but she differs boldly from her predecessors in that her urge to do so has nothing to do with revenge, anger, or even self-defense. Its just something she wants, and Raw is a movie about wanting. Shes not Jess Weixler in Teeth, or Kika Magalhes in The Eyes of My Mother, or Angela Bettis in May (though theyre both veterinarians). Women punishing terrible men stories can be fun and urgent, but this isnt one of them. Neither is it really a monster movie.
if raw is tough on the stomach, its because it gets to the truth of being a 16-year-old girl
Its more straightforward than that a shifting, formless story about being in the headspace of a precocious 16-year-old girl in her first year of college. Shes adapting to her new setting, and to her first year thinking about power, her first year thinking about sex, and uh, yeah, her first year craving raw flesh. The most interesting scenes in the movie arent when Justine is slurping up blood or knocking back raw chicken in the glow of her dorm-room mini-fridge. (Though that shot is great.) Theyre the relatable responsee she has to this nightmare taking over her body.
The best scenes could be reactions to anything that happens to a girl at this rending edge a middle-of-the-night sequence screaming into the sheets alone, a beautifully choreographed drunken waltz through a basement punk show, long minutes watching a boy play soccer, or swaying in front of the mirror, wearing a new dress. Justines public, physical fight with her older sister (Ella Rumpf) is one of the nastiest sequences in the whole movie, and it is terrifying, but the way the sisters fight is familiar. Its the way you fight with someone whose body you know well, and whom youre capable of both loving and despising. If Raw is tough on the stomach at all, its only because it does such an incredible job getting to the truth of what its like to be a woman at that age. Its torture, frankly, which is probably why Justine actually takes more violence than she doles out.
Raw is a pulse-pounding horror movie, but it also feels like the truest thing Ive ever seen about being a teenager.
In that GQ interview, Ducournau says the way the female body is usually shown in film is unrelatable to her. I cant relate to the sexualization of the body and I cant relate to the glamorization of the female body, she says. This has been true for me too. Even in movies that arent openly exploitative, women in most films are emphatically beautiful or unbeautiful, and whichever one theyre established as is key to the way the world of the film spins around them. Its distracting to have to constantly consider this, and it limits who can see themselves in a characters interiority. In Raw, Justines thoughts and feelings are externalized to such an extreme degree that whether shes attractive is way beside the point, and the camera really only focuses in on her body with a scientific and not prurient interest, when its in distress. If people are wondering, Why does she need all that blood? maybe this is a partial answer: the gore gives Justine the space to be terrifying and complicated, rather than a pretty freshman weirdo just trying to find her groove.
the gore gives raws heroine space to be terrifying and complicated
Raw is Ducournaus debut, so its important that the film gets attention for what it is a genuinely scary movie thats also a one-of-a-kind portrayal of a girls first year at a competitive college. If its pigeonholed as a niche exploitation-horror film, a grueling experience only meant for the truly undaunted, thats unlikely to line Ducournau up for a shot at critical acclaim, or bigger opportunities down the line. And in the first place, stories about a young womans coming-of-age experience are often considered genre by that measure alone, where stories about a young boys can be called existential, human, and expansive.
Its rare to see a truly engrossing horror movie where the twists arent visible a mile away. Its nearly unique to see a film of any genre that can chart the darker parts of a brilliant young womans mind without turning her into an out-and-out monster, destroying her, or converting her. If anything, Ducournau should get way more credit for doing both.
Raw is now playing in limited release.
View original post here:
The cannibal movie Raw is an incredible coming-of-age film, and if ... - The Verge
- Netflix Controversial R-Rated Adaptation Is A Horror Comedy Masterpiece - Giant Freakin Robot - July 25th, 2024
- Longlegs' Twist Ending Disappointed Me, And That Final Shot Left Me With A Major Question - CinemaBlend - July 25th, 2024
- Red-Band Trailer For The Heavy Metal Horror Film WOLVES AGAINST THE WORLD - GeekTyrant - July 25th, 2024
- The Summers Best Indie and Art-House Horror Movies Are All Out This Month - Vogue - July 25th, 2024
- The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie? - JoBlo.com - July 25th, 2024
- Second Time's a Charm: 4 of the Best Horror Remakes of the 1980s - The Lineup - July 25th, 2024
- How Chris Stuckmann Went From YouTube Film Critic to Making His Own Horror Movie Courting Neon and Mike Flanagan in the Process - Variety - July 25th, 2024
- Friday, July 19: These 5 New Horror Movies Just Released Today - Bloody Disgusting - July 25th, 2024
- Terrifier 3 teaser trailer promises the scariest & goriest horror movie of 2024 - Dexerto - July 25th, 2024
- The 10 Best Horror Movies of the 2020s So Far, According to Letterboxd - Collider - July 25th, 2024
- New 'terrifying' horror movie thats left audiences 'screaming' in theatres draws near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score - UNILAD - July 25th, 2024
- A New Horror Movie Is Over 95% Fresh On Rotten Tomatoes, But You Might Not Have Heard Of It Yet - CinemaBlend - July 25th, 2024
- The Terrifying Monsters in This Nicolas Cage Horror Movie Were Inspired by Goofy - Collider - July 25th, 2024
- Netflix Horror Movie Goes Beyond Disturbing Within The First Few Minutes - Giant Freakin Robot - July 25th, 2024
- What is Longlegs about? Everything to know about the hit horror movie starring Nicolas Cage - Entertainment Weekly News - July 25th, 2024
- Oddity is THE scariest film of the year: Critics rave about new horror movie - The Independent - July 25th, 2024
- Eric Banas Only Appearance in a Horror Film Was Based on a True Story - MovieWeb - July 25th, 2024
- 1970s Horror TV Movie Thrilled A Generation But No One Remembers It - Giant Freakin Robot - July 25th, 2024
- The Beast Within Exclusive Clip Kit Harington Transforms in Werewolf Horror Movie - Bloody Disgusting - July 25th, 2024
- This Is the Hands Down The Weirdest Horror Film on Prime Video Right Now - Collider - July 25th, 2024
- Maika Monroe Sells the Terror of Oregon-set Horror Film Longlegs With Her Eyes - Willamette Week - July 17th, 2024
- Nicolas Cage's New 86% RT Horror Movie Is The Silence Of The Lambs Replacement I've Wanted For Years - Screen Rant - July 17th, 2024
- Review: Longlegs is the Silliest Horror Film of the Year - The Cosmic Circus - July 17th, 2024
- How Longlegs Shocked the Box Office to Become the Summers Breakout Horror Hit - Variety - July 17th, 2024
- Longlegs: The scariest horror movie of the year knows exactly how to weaponise Nicolas Cage - The Indian Express - July 17th, 2024
- Budget horror movie earns $22 million at the box office all by hiding its A-list star - UNILAD - July 17th, 2024
- The New Horror Film That Knows How to Rattle the Nerves - The Daily Beast - July 17th, 2024
- 'The Deliverance' Trailer - Netflix Spent Big Money on This Horror Movie from Director Lee Daniels - Bloody Disgusting - July 17th, 2024
- Apple's brilliant new iPhone ad is a mini horror movie meant to scare Android users - PhoneArena - July 17th, 2024
- Bride of Re-Animator (1990) WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? - JoBlo.com - July 17th, 2024
- Review: Starve Acre Is an Homage to Classic Folk Horror - The Mary Sue - July 17th, 2024
- The Most Acclaimed Horror Movie of the Year Is Here. Is It As Scary As Everyone Is Saying? - Slate - July 17th, 2024
- This Maika Monroe Movie Gave Us One of the Most Chilling Moments in Recent Horror - Collider - July 17th, 2024
- Celebrating Film Nostalgia With Ooze and Ahhs at Blobfest - The New York Times - July 17th, 2024
- Horror movie Longlegs has gone viral with its creepy marketing campaign. But is it more than just a stunt? - Northeastern University - July 17th, 2024
- Five Sci-Fi/Horror Movies That Take Place Inside an Apartment Building - Reactor - July 17th, 2024
- 8 New Horror Movies Releasing This Week Including Longlegs - Bloody Disgusting - July 17th, 2024
- Neons Longlegs scaring up strong box office as big-budget Fly Me to the Moon struggles - Los Angeles Times - July 17th, 2024
- The Deliverance: release date, trailer, cast and everything we know about the Lee Daniels horror movie - What To Watch - July 17th, 2024
- POLL: What Are The Best Horror Movies of 2024 (So Far)? - JoBlo.com - July 17th, 2024
- The Exorcism's Adam Goldberg, Ryan Simpkins and Filmmakers on Making the Meta Horror Film (Interview) - Nerd Reactor - June 20th, 2024
- Hanky Panky Review: The Right Kind of Silly - Fangirlish - June 20th, 2024
- 40th Anniversary screening of Children of the Corn coming up in July in Whiting - KTIV Siouxland's News Channel - June 20th, 2024
- Who Watches The Watchers? Unfortunately, Me - Reactor - June 20th, 2024
- 10 Best Horror Sequels Of The 1990s - Screen Rant - June 20th, 2024
- The Inheritance trailer: Alejandro Brugus horror film reaches theatres and VOD in July - JoBlo.com - June 20th, 2024
- Metal & Movies Mash-Up: Motorhead and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth - JoBlo.com - June 20th, 2024
- Live-Action Horror Film Sayuri to Open on August 23 - Anime News Network - June 20th, 2024
- The Netflix Sci-Fi Horror Action Blockbuster That Kicked Off A Mega Franchise - Giant Freakin Robot - June 20th, 2024
- Peyton List Wishes She Was Left Out of the Will in New 'The Inheritance' Trailer - Collider - June 20th, 2024
- Can't wait to never sleep again!: The Horror Film That Could Make or Break Mike Flanagan's Stellar Career Gets ... - FandomWire - June 20th, 2024
- MaXXXine team discuss blending fact and fiction by including a real-life serial killer in the horror movie sequel - Gamesradar - June 20th, 2024
- Where suspense and silliness collide - theSun - June 20th, 2024
- NWA wrestler Max the Impaler to star in horror movie - Figure Four Online - June 20th, 2024
- NWAs Max The Impaler To Star In Dolly Horror Movie - Wrestlezone - June 20th, 2024
- Fans all notice one particular thing as trailer drops to sequel 'so gory and disgusting' that star vomited - UNILAD - June 20th, 2024
- Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th: The Forgotten Horror Parody Movie - Flickering Myth - June 20th, 2024
- The Exorcism review: "The Russell Crowe horror veers more ridiculous than terrifying" - Gamesradar - June 20th, 2024
- Bloody Smile 2 trailer finally explains movie's mysterious marketing and promises a bigger scale for sequel to the hit ... - Gamesradar - June 19th, 2024
- Award-Winning Horror Movie Fang is Now Streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV - EIN News - June 19th, 2024
- My most anticipated horror movie of the year just got a whole lot creepier thanks to Nicolas Cage - Yahoo News UK - June 19th, 2024
- The Best Horror Anthology Ever Is Being Kept Away From The New Generation - Giant Freakin Robot - June 19th, 2024
- Kit Harington Shows Off the Real 'Beast Within' in New Horror Film - Collider - June 19th, 2024
- A sequel to the Netflix cult horror film Circle is in the works - imdb - June 19th, 2024
- Nicolas Cage's upcoming horror movie debuts to perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics calling it "the scariest film ... - Gamesradar - June 19th, 2024
- 5 best horror movies on Prime Video with 90% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes - Tom's Guide - June 19th, 2024
- Max The Impaler To Star In New Horror Film 'Dolly' - Fightful - June 19th, 2024
- Jordan Peele, Lee Cronin Have New Horror Films On The Way - Bleeding Cool News - June 19th, 2024
- This Horror Film Was Livestreamed: One More Round With Generation Loss - Alternate Reality Gaming Network - June 19th, 2024
- I'm Delighted This Horror Movie Is Now A Streaming Success After Its $53M Box Office Letdown 2 Months Ago - Screen Rant - June 19th, 2024
- Nicolas Cage's new apocalyptic horror movie often leaves viewers in the dark, but that's actually a good thing - Gamesradar - June 19th, 2024
- Fans and celebrities to gather for Tampa Bay Screams Horror Convention - Tampa Bay Newspapers - June 19th, 2024
- This Classic Horror Movie Influenced the Harkonnens of Denis Villeneuve's Dune - Collider - June 19th, 2024
- The Nasty Torture Horror Movie That the UK Branded Too Depraved for Release - Collider - June 19th, 2024
- Critics are shocked by Nicolas Cage's new horror movie and it's 100% on Rotten Tomatoes - Tom's Guide - June 19th, 2024
- Joko Anwars Nightmares and Daydreams: Cast and Plot - Netflix Tudum - June 19th, 2024
- NWAs Max The Impaler To Star In Dolly Horror Film - eWrestlingNews - June 19th, 2024
- Bizarre dance with the unexpected - theSun - June 19th, 2024
- The Best Horror Movies on Max to Watch Right Now - CNET - June 1st, 2024
- This New Winnie-The-Pooh Horror Movie Might Actually Be Better Than Blood & Honey - Screen Rant - June 1st, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero