Raw

when i watched this last year, i thought ‘raw’ was an incredible film, but it kinda missed the 5 star mark for one reason or another - but on a rewatch, this has to be one of the easiest 5 star i’ve ever given out, and honestly totally works for my 150th log of the year!!  i recently thrifted a copy of raw on blu-ray, and honestly… it’s the best purchase i’ve ever made, because raw is unironically a horror masterpiece - perhaps my favourite horror of the decade? (probably a tie between this, and then black swan tbh). i feel that there’s nothing that i could think that would possibly improve this - as its perfection. the soundtrack is moody, intense, slighly bleak, but also really amusing - and that mirror dance scene was truly life-changing. i thought the soundtrack was one of my favourites ever, just due to how well it fit with it, heightening the thrill. another thing i adore about ‘raw’ is that it isn’t just shock value - which you definitely can’t go wrong with, there’s lots of shock horror films that i’ve had lots of fun with (cannibal ferox coming to my mind for some reason) - but the reason ‘raw’ stands out in comparison is that it’s more that it’s visceral showcases of gore. it uses cannibalism as a metaphor for the transformation into adulthood, and female sexual discovery. ‘raw’ is mainly an allegory for the difficulties of growing up - and the often destructive nature it causes along with the complete loss of innocence, but it also uses the primal characteristics of consuming another human to suggest how humanity is inherently animalistic. i loved how ‘raw’, unlike many other horrors, doesn’t conform to the male gaze, and instead fights against it. it breaks the male gaze using cannibalism which can be seen as monstrous, or even subversive. i definitely missed a couple things the first time i watched it, which might’ve altered my opinion slighly - but every individual scene is just addictive. i could watch this film on repeat, and i still probably wouldn’t ever get bored. it thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining. the sister dynamic, which is portrayed as quite harmful but they also clearly care for eachother - i love how this shows a realistic view on a sibling bond, especially between two sisters. the constant gore is also incredibly fun - probably not to a regular person, but some scenes here are such so visceral - the finger biting scene, the leg scene, the waxing scene. i love gore - and i loved how the gore here was used to give it such a tense feel. which comes onto my next point, this film just feels so overly tense - possibly fuelled by the gore, probably also fueled by the soundtrack - this gave me a true anxious feeling, but in the best way imaginable. the family dynamic, which i brushed on before, is one of the best i’ve seen in cinema as whole - it’s seen as rather imperfect, which makes everything more enjoyable. the protagonist is just so real, and the characters in general are just really well written. ‘raw’ is easily my favourite french extremist - which is a bold statement considering it’s my favourite niche (not really) film genre - it fully priorities being visceral over intellect, and is a body-horror masterpiece that deserves more praise honestly. the fact this was julie ducournau’s debut film is just truly incredible - most directors couldn’t match this quality even on their fifth feature length film. ‘raw’ is amazing.