5 Out of 5 Stars
Last Saturday night I was lucky enough to have caught the Philadelphia Film Festival Graveyard Shift’s secret screening and given the themes of this year’s program it couldn’t have been a more appropriate selection. While most in line were expecting the new film by M. Night, Split, I had a very sneaking suspicion given this year’s celebration of women in the director’s chair, that they were going to screen the film that has become a bit notorious on the festival circuit after a few patrons passed out during a Toronto screening, Raw.

I was correct.

The French film focuses on Justine (Garance Marlier) a young woman who was raised a strict vegetarian and was recently accepted to a prestigious veterinary college, also attended by her older sister. As part of her hazing process, she is forced to eat raw meat for the first time and this triggers a strange series of events eventually leading her to cannibalism. The film is a darker take on the coming of age tale as Justine’s body breaks out the first time she eats meat as she begins to go through a metamorphosis, behaving strangely and having cravings she has never had before. The cravings soon turn into an almost blind frenzy when she loses control at a party and those at her school start to realize something is not right with Justine as this begins a downward spiral for the aspiring freshman.


Raw succeeds by juxtaposing its dark subject matter with gorgeous cinematography and powerful performances. The film was both written and directed by Julia Ducournau and because of this displays cohesive, intimate and very intense vision of two sisters and their relationship growing up. The violence the film employs is inspired by some of the best in the genre employing real gore from the vet procedures to amp up the fabricated human gore in a move that would please Ruggero Deodato. These tactics hone the almost unbridled tension into almost a fever pitch, which was more than some could handle at the screening where there were more than a few walk outs.

Raw is a film that more than lives up to its name, its uncompromising, unfiltered in its take on a girl who just happens to crave human flesh while coming into womanhood. It’s not for the squeamish, but thanks to its feminine perspective brings something deeply personal to the genre and could easily be the best horror film of the year. It’s a film that is not just trying to shock, but has something important to say as Justine navigates through adulthood trying to find her way in the collegiate experience. Touching and grotesque, Raw is a new horror classic that fans that will be hitting theaters early next year.