• Julia Ducournau’s debut film Raw is rich in subtext. Ducournau wrote the screenplay as well tracing Justine’s (Garance Marillier) entrance into veterinary school and horrifying transformation/awakening.
  • Justine is hazed, pressured into getting eating meat, getting a painful Brazilian.
  • The opening frame (above) long take string of trees composition is perhaps the strongest in the film- and a sublime one.
  • One must applaud Ducournau for having a fresh take on the vampire genre in the 21st This is part Near Dark (1987) and part Cronenberg body horror.
  • Ella Rumpf plays Justine’s sister Alexia and Rumpf is superb. Based solely on this effort, if I were to place bets on the future successes of the two actors, I’d put my money on Rumpf.
  • Ducournau uses a very nice long take pushing through the student crowd during the song “Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy” by The Dø.
  • At the 72-minute mark there is similar shot as the coeds make out at the party as the camera makes its way to Justine in red light.
  • The final “I’m sure you’ll find a solution honey” line from the father as Ducournau cuts to red, the credits, and the haunting organ music.
  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 2016