Saturday, December 30, 2017

Delayed Reaction: Raw

The Pitch: People don't focus enough on the cannibalism aspect of zombie movies.

A girl at veterinary school gets a taste for human flesh after a hazing prank.

Why? Why? Why did I do that? I had every warning sign. I had every reason to skip this. I don't know any of the actors or the people behind the camera. It's foreign. Subtitles alone are a go-to [lazy] excuse for me to not watch something. I knew it was about cannibalism and would cross a gore-threshold that I don't have the stomach for. It's not even like it was topping any year-end critic lists or getting awards attention.

But still I watched.

I regretted it almost immediately. None of this has to do with the quality of the film, mind you. It's actually quite well made. I like the music. The performances, especially Garance Marillier and Ella Rumpf's, are really committed. The story has some nice turns. I really appreciated the reveal at the end. In a lot of ways, it was like a more disgusting Neon Demon.

I didn't need to see any of that though. I ended up watching a half dozen Parks & Rec episodes afterwards to get some comforting thoughts and images in my head. Even non-cannibalism images were rough. I remember a character with her arm up a cow's ass at one point. The Brazilian wax scene was impossible to watch even before someone lost a finger. Even just a hamburger in a pocket looked absolutely disgusting.

So, yeah. Only see this if you really want to see some interesting and skillful film making and have a strong stomach.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

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