Raw

2016 coming-of-age horror film

Rating: 13/20

Plot: A girl starts vet school a vegetarian, but after she tastes some meet, she winds up having uncontrollable cannibalistic impulses.

This one's a little frustrating because it just doesn't all add up. It leaves far more questions than it answers. If you take it as the protagonists transition into college life, it almost makes sense as a strange and very dark look at how awkward that can be--dealing with sexuality, experimenting with drugs, making new friends and fitting in. But then there's all this stuff with the sister and her family's background, and I just couldn't put all the pieces together. A handful of references to bulimia made it seem like that was important, too. 

Lots of this might be hard to watch for some people. I mean, most movies about cannibalism probably have certain scenes that would be difficult to watch. This one's got bucketfuls of blood, a really disgusting scene involving hair that more closely resembled ribbons from a clown's pocket, a shot of a character with her arm halfway up a cow, animal autopsies, a Brazilian wax job that results in an unexpected injury, and an old guy showing off his dentures. It seems like director Julia Ducournau is more interested in shocking the viewer more than in having any sort of clear message or telling a story that makes sense.

Throw this one in the "almost interesting" files.