Raw

A college freshman (freshwoman?) in a French veterinary school is forced to eat raw rabbit kidney as a hazing ritual, in spite of being a vegetarian. She soon finds she has an insatiable thirst for meat, especially human flesh.

I can’t decide if I just watched someone’s attempt at a ‘powerful’ message about a young woman’s identity, or a hilarious parody of art house cinema. The fits of laughter in the room as our protagonist Justine tucks into her sister’s freshly severed finger like it’s a KFC hot wing may have tainted my view of the film.

Perhaps it’s both, perhaps Raw is smart and darkly funny, but there’s something so sincere and po-faced about the rest of the film that one can’t help but think it’s taking itself very seriously indeed. Again, perhaps I was in a room of sick freaks but everyone was giggling away when Justine and her sibling showed their sisterly love by biting chunks out of each other.

Critics seem to have found deeper meaning in Raw so perhaps it warrants a viewing just so you can form your own opinion. Here’s mine - don’t bother with this pretentious bollocks.