With Raw, Ducournau didn't just want to make a cliché cannibal horror film. To describe their oddly symbiotic journey together through the course of the film, she relates in detail the process of cellular mitosis and how this biological phenomenon informed the on-screen relationship of the film's two principal characters. When discussing how she fleshed out the relationship between Justine and Alexa, she references the gory sibling stories of the Bible and Greek mythology. "It's not like you're going to jump out of your seat every two seconds."ĭucournau approaches every aspect of her film with a similar philosophical depth. "It is something that is scary but in a very intellectual way," she continues. What does it mean to be human? Where is my humanity? How do I know whether it resides in my body, or my soul, or in my actions, or in my relationships with others? What is humanity? These are questions we should ask ourselves every day. "I want it to make people question themselves. ![]() "I want my movie to haunt people but not because it's scary," says Ducournau. Although there's gore, and the delicate relationship between life and death is laid bare throughout, it is not frightening in any immediate sense. Her desires intensify, and she becomes animalistic in her need to consume, both sexually and by devouring whatever flesh is within chomping distance. She slowly acclimates to the school's rabid social scene, developing an insatiable taste for meat in the process. ![]() She initially objects but feels the pressure to fit in and takes a bite. "Rookies" are drenched in blood by upperclassmen and, one by one, are forced to eat a piece of rabbit kidney. She is a timid, idealistic virgin who has yet to experience anything resembling the real world, or her real self.Īfter moving into her dorm, Justine is quickly exposed to the school's rampant party culture, which features late-night raves and an intense hazing ritual for new students. In one scene, she explains to confused students why raping an animal is morally tantamount to raping a woman. She is also a vegetarian with a noble view of her future patients. Justine is a gifted student, a Harry Potter type entering a bizarro Hogwarts where students learn to shove their arms up cow anuses rather than cast spells. ![]() Raw tells the story of a French teenager named Justine who is beginning her first year of veterinary school, where her older sister, Alexa, is already a student. It makes you completely in the story, and at the same time, you can question why you are feeling those things. I do believe that physicality, when you watch movies, is very important, because it makes you active. "My goal is to address the bodies of my audience before I address their minds," Ducournau tells Newsweek. It is uncomfortable and unsettling in an all-consuming, corporeal sense. Visceral is a word that will be used repeatedly in reviews of Raw, and rightfully so. Audience members in the Walter Reade Theater responded to some of the film's most wrenching moments by burying their heads in their arms, contorting their faces, laughing, staring at the screen with their mouths agape and bouncing their knees in a furious attempt to expel some of the perverse energy the film had unlocked inside of them.Įven before the film's title flashes in red block letters across the screen, Ducournau shoves a knife into the audience's gut and does not stop twisting it until the closing credits roll, after which she leaves it there, dripping in blood, for your continued consideration. Since it premiered last year at Cannes, where it won the International Federation of Film Critics' Prize, and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, during which multiple audience members fainted, Raw has elicited a wide range of reactions from those who have seen it. Related: 'Moonlight' takes best picture after it erroneously went to 'La La Land' "I've gotten used to this throughout the year," added Ducournau before continuing to ruminate about the question of human nature in her stunning debut feature, which opens in theaters Friday. "It's better than nothing."Īpplause broke out as the woman was escorted into the lobby. ![]() "I feel that you maybe have a very strong reaction to the movie, which is good," the French director responded coolly. The audience grumbled as they turned their attention from the woman back to Ducournau. "What is your movie about?" the woman yelled, visibly distraught by what she had just seen. During a Q&A that followed a recent screening of Raw at New York's Walter Reade Theater, a woman in the audience stood up and interrupted director Julia Ducournau as she was discussing the animalistic nature of her film.
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