TIFF 2016: Raw Review

Midnight Madness

Calm down. We’re going to deal with this review logically. Some people fainted, yes, and paramedics were called, yes, and it happened for real, unlike that urban legend about the first screening of Psycho, yes, and I needed to go to the bathroom as I feared I was going to be ill, yes, and this movie isn’t for everyone, yes, but, wow. 

To be calm, I must keep my sentences short, unlike the long string of vomit Justine (a brilliant and game Garance Marillier) deposits in a toilet at one point in the film. Short, right? What’s this movie about again? Julia Ducournau directed Raw. Yes, we know that. What is it about? A vegan vet student, midway through hazing (seriously, don’t go to this school) develops a taste for meat. And apparently, she has some catching up to do after all those years not eating the stuff.

She’s also a developing, blossoming young female. You know college; sex, drinking, Brazilian waxing, your first gay (or bi) roommate, and sticking your hand up a horse’s [censored] – it’s all here, folks, and then some. From one gross set piece to another, the movie tries to outdo itself at every turn and at some point the plot is excreted and swallowed whole and then excreted again. I’m not really sure what happened or why. 

Advertisements

I can say this. It’s like Carrie for the year 2016. It’s Carrie – an allegorical story about a female finding herself, but instead of psychic powers and John Travolta, we have cannibalism and an underutilized vet school (seriously, she could have eaten some animals and that dick professor who said she was too high achieving). It’s like Carrie mixed with Wetlands, and it’s about time that women came together and collectively grossed out everyone possible.

This is sweet, disgusting revenge. Watch people squirm if you can’t watch the movie.

Screening: 

Saturday Sept. 17, 12:30pm @ TIFF Bell Lightbox 1

Advertisements



Comments

Advertisement



Advertisement


Advertisement