Raw

If there is one thing that French cinema can be proud of is its faithfulness to raw cinema. Whether it’s tapping into amour (THREE COLOURS), violence (LA HAINE) or just plain terror (MARTYRS, HIGH TENSION) the European country does not pander to softer audiences no matter its subject and RAW is no exception.

 

Directed by Julia Ducourna, RAW is exactly what it says on the tin, a brutal coming of age story that is more akin to THE HUNGER than THE HUNGER GAMES. When vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier) joins her sister Alex (Ella Rumpf) at college, peer pressure forces her to take a slice of meat but once she turns flack, she never turns back.

 

Ducourna’s feature debut is irresistibly charming thanks mostly to Marillier’s central performance. Her innocence and acute awareness of her surroundings makes her development so much more harrowing. Watching the naivety slip away on screen and the perversity of life absorb her is mesmerising and haunting at the same time. RAW is never short of delivering great characters and the contrived relationship between the sisters is a fascinating dynamic of an older sibling who is observed from the eyes of someone less adolescent. The punk rock attitude is contrasting to see but the family unit so believable. The rebel and the angel may seem worlds apart but as the film and growth of each character progresses, the similarities become more apparent.

 

RAW is not just a coming of age story of cannibalism and college, it’s much more and it charters the growth of independence in a world full of peer pressure. The lustful need of Marillier in her understanding of her metaphysical change is not welcomed or nurtured but she’s made to be an experimental playmate for the vultures that surround her.

 

Bautifully shot and with such precision as is famed with French cinema, RAW is just that, raw! A testament to the times and hails itself as one of the best films of the year and beyond all of the symbolism of losing innocence is an extremely gruesome and shocking monster movie that is heart-breaking and traumatising not just for the central characters but for the viewer too. This is a film that masks its horror in raw human drama but never fails to deliver when the shocks are needed.

Director: Julia Ducourna

Released:  5th September 2017

Running Time: 99 minutes

Age Rating: 18

 

Reviewer: Martyn Wakefield