What’s on the school lunch menu? Don’t ask
The cannibalism horror film “Raw” makes a very good argument for living at home during college, under the helicoptering watch of Mom and Dad.
Set in what seems like the “Eyes Wide Shut” School for Veterinary Science, there are more orgies than classes, a new erotic initiation behind every door, and cruel hearts all around. It’s the worst place in the world for Justine, a sheltered, earnest and seemingly innocent student.
“Raw” director Julia Ducournau understands comingof-age fears as much as she gets scary movies, and she manages both near-perfectly in this French-Belgian graphic thriller. It’s not for the squeamish — studio marketers were right to hand out those barf bags at our local critics screening — but Ducournau’s expert hand should earn the respect of any cinephile who can handle the explicit content.
“Raw” begins with deer-inheadlights freshman Justine (Garance Marillier) getting dropped off at college by her disconnected parents. Her more worldly older sister (Ella Rumpf) is there, and so are hundreds of jaded students — who don’t mind upperclassman throwing their beds out the window in a hazing ritual, but are turned off by Justine’s overachiever personality.
A high compliment for Ducournau’s film: It would succeed even without the cannibal parts. “Raw” could almost pass for a long-lost John Hughes film at the beginning. There are stray bits of knowing generational humor, while the setup accurately captures the fear, curiosity and possibility of those first days at college. But Justine’s self-discovery isn’t a sexual awakening: It’s a taste for human flesh. Ducournau reveals this hunger in a shocking sequence, savoring the moment in a disturbing full-frame reveal. As Justine goes for seconds, thirds and fourths, the 33-year-old director plays the gory details of cannibal culture for maximum impact — aided by a full buyin from Marillier and Rumpf.
“Raw” is also a buffet of predictability. Nearly every major plot turn can be anticipated, and some take too long to arrive. And it’s worth repeating (and repeating, and repeating …) that a large percentage of audiences will be turned off by the extremely dark and disturbing visuals.
A letter rating — the MPAA gave the film an R — doesn’t tell the whole story here. Short of a photo of a girl taking a huge bite out of a human thigh on the marquee, there’s no way to truly prepare audiences for “Raw.”
Of course, that’s part of the draw of a movie like this — to see how much one can take. But endurance is far from the only reward. You probably won’t want to see “Raw” again anytime soon, but Ducournau’s next cinematic smorgasbord can’t come soon enough.