Andrew Robinson
Raw (2016) is not for the faint of heart. Raw is not for anyone that wants to get just a taste of horror. Raw is not for those prone to queasiness.
Raw is only for the most hardened of horror fans. And, boy, is it magnificent.
Summary
Raw follows Justine (Garance Marillier), an innocent young vegetarian woman, as she attends veterinary school, coming out from under her parents’ protective bubble for the first time.
After a hazing, everything that she thought she knew about herself is upended.
What Makes it A Must-See for Horror Fans?
As a massive fan of horror myself, I thought I had seen it all before watching Raw on Netflix by myself one night. I was wrong.
The plot of Raw is fairly simple – it doesn’t feel like anything special upon first glance. A typical, run-of-the-mill horror movie. However, as the 99-minute runtime continues past the first half an hour or so, things start to go down. Quickly.
Marillier is haunting as Justine. In Raw, she gives one of the best performances in a horror movie that I can remember. Upon first meeting Justine, the viewer is immediately rooting for her. She’s shy, quiet, and innocent-looking. As the film goes on, as Justine’s life is irrevocably changed, the viewer continues to root for her, with their hearts beating loudly in their chests the whole time.
Being an international horror film, Raw gets away with things that it never would have had a chance at showing had it been produced in the United States. In fact, it was slated for an NC-17 rating in the States before being downed to a simple R rating. One thing that many horror fans appreciate is something new. Watching slasher after slasher, or possession after possession, can get tedious, and very repetitive. In recent memory, horror films such as Creep, The Babadook, Hereditary, and Get Out have succeeded amongst horror fans largely because their storylines have involved more than just a simple possession or crazed killer attacking teenagers. Raw builds on this idea, and then some.
Raw is violent, shocking, and, at times, nauseating. The viewer may even be left in a state of shock at points. However, it also has a (very twisted) aspect of the importance of familial love and, yes, acceptance. It’s a coming-of-age tale: the viewer is along for the ride as Justine discovers who she is, and struggles to accept her findings. While disturbing, disgusting, and nauseating, it speaks as to how one needs to find oneself, and how this cannot be truly accomplished until one reaches a certain age.
When looking back on the film after completing viewing it, the viewer will realize this, and will appreciate the messages present in such a shocking film.
Horror fans that can stomach a shocking NC-17-worthy film (as well as don’t mind subtitles) must watch Raw. The imagery is breathtakingly disturbing, the acting performances – especially by Marillier – are superb, and the storyline is surprisingly fresh and, upon review, poignant.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to watch Raw again because of its shocking nature, but it is undoubtedly one of the best horror movies of the past decade.
Horror fans – do yourselves a favor: watch this film. Just make sure you’re not eating when you give it a shot.
Once you watch it, you’ll never forget.
