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Raw, 2016
Justine (Garance Marillier) is a first year student at a medical university, studying to become a veterinarian. Justine--a virgin and a bit of a loner--struggles to fit in. Her only allies are her roommate, Adrien (Rabah Nait Oufella) and her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf), who is ahead of her at the university. A lifelong vegetarian, Justine is forced to eat raw animal meat as part of an initiation/hazing event, and it triggers strange and violent changes in her behavior and appetites.
I had started this film a week ago, and then bailed on it because of some of the animal content. (For anyone who hasn't seen it: I'm not talking about animal cruelty. But watching a horse get sedated and intubated was a little too close to some real life stuff I've seen with horses.) Today I came back to finish it and I'm really glad I did.
My main reaction--one that I'm not sure is typical, as I've not read anything yet about this film--is that I was more appalled by the hazing sequences than I was by the "horror" sequences. Don't get me wrong, I know that harassment and humiliation are not as bad as actual physical violence/murder. But I think that the two elements intertwine in a really electric way. To me, hazing/initiation rituals have always been one of those things that just makes me despair. People with more power using it to harm or humiliate those with less power. And those with less power sitting back and taking it, in part because they know that one day they'll be the ones in control.
It's such a horrible dynamic. And as the film goes on, the actions taken by the main character intensify with the hazing doled out to the first year students. In one sequence, Justine is doused with paint and shoved into a room with another student, also covered in paint, and told not to come out until they've completed a sexual encounter. Later, troubling behavior by Justine is witnessed by multiple students who believe she is merely very drunk. And yet even as students are heard saying to stop filming her, or to help her, no one steps up to stop her humiliation. This is a grim portrait of the way that "traditions" like hazing can create an environment where not only are students desperate and stressed, but where really problematic behavior can either go unnoticed or, worse, be laughed off and encouraged.
I don't want to get into details, because I want to avoid spoilers, but I also really enjoyed the fraught emotional triangle that forms between Justine, Adrien, and Alexia. Between sisterly bonds, roommate loyalty, and sexual attraction, there's more than enough tension and possessiveness to go around. The way that it all unfolds feels, in the end, kind of inevitable, but it's still fascinating to watch.
I have very little to criticize here. It's not the most believable thing that a female student would be assigned a male roommate. This is waved away by explaining that Adrien is gay, but, um . . . I don't think so. There's also some information that we learn toward the end of the film that made me question the logic of some of the events and conversations that happened earlier in the film.
But any negatives for me didn't really register. This is a disturbing and engaging film with strong performances from all of its leads. I'd definitely recommend it.
Raw, 2016
Justine (Garance Marillier) is a first year student at a medical university, studying to become a veterinarian. Justine--a virgin and a bit of a loner--struggles to fit in. Her only allies are her roommate, Adrien (Rabah Nait Oufella) and her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf), who is ahead of her at the university. A lifelong vegetarian, Justine is forced to eat raw animal meat as part of an initiation/hazing event, and it triggers strange and violent changes in her behavior and appetites.
I had started this film a week ago, and then bailed on it because of some of the animal content. (For anyone who hasn't seen it: I'm not talking about animal cruelty. But watching a horse get sedated and intubated was a little too close to some real life stuff I've seen with horses.) Today I came back to finish it and I'm really glad I did.
My main reaction--one that I'm not sure is typical, as I've not read anything yet about this film--is that I was more appalled by the hazing sequences than I was by the "horror" sequences. Don't get me wrong, I know that harassment and humiliation are not as bad as actual physical violence/murder. But I think that the two elements intertwine in a really electric way. To me, hazing/initiation rituals have always been one of those things that just makes me despair. People with more power using it to harm or humiliate those with less power. And those with less power sitting back and taking it, in part because they know that one day they'll be the ones in control.
It's such a horrible dynamic. And as the film goes on, the actions taken by the main character intensify with the hazing doled out to the first year students. In one sequence, Justine is doused with paint and shoved into a room with another student, also covered in paint, and told not to come out until they've completed a sexual encounter. Later, troubling behavior by Justine is witnessed by multiple students who believe she is merely very drunk. And yet even as students are heard saying to stop filming her, or to help her, no one steps up to stop her humiliation. This is a grim portrait of the way that "traditions" like hazing can create an environment where not only are students desperate and stressed, but where really problematic behavior can either go unnoticed or, worse, be laughed off and encouraged.
I don't want to get into details, because I want to avoid spoilers, but I also really enjoyed the fraught emotional triangle that forms between Justine, Adrien, and Alexia. Between sisterly bonds, roommate loyalty, and sexual attraction, there's more than enough tension and possessiveness to go around. The way that it all unfolds feels, in the end, kind of inevitable, but it's still fascinating to watch.
I have very little to criticize here. It's not the most believable thing that a female student would be assigned a male roommate. This is waved away by explaining that Adrien is gay, but, um . . . I don't think so. There's also some information that we learn toward the end of the film that made me question the logic of some of the events and conversations that happened earlier in the film.
But any negatives for me didn't really register. This is a disturbing and engaging film with strong performances from all of its leads. I'd definitely recommend it.