One of the things Ducournau seems to be most drawn toward is depicting the experience of cis womanhood through barbarism and body horror. When faced with all this and the near inhumane treatment by her upperclassmen, it’s not all that odd that Justine sees people as no different than animal meat. In Raw, we’re treated to scenes of horses and dogs being bloodily splayed open, students licking each others’ eyeballs and underclassmen being forced to crawl along the floor like animals. But she also sets her stories apart and grounds them with settings and imagery meant to evoke the discomfort their characters feel. Whether it’s a car-fucking leading to a titanium pregnancy or a vegetarian turning into a cannibal, Ducournau loves to put her leading ladies through a violent metamorphosis (which at this point is becoming its own well-worn horror trope), often making these situations almost too absurd-sounding to be believed. During a hazing of the freshman class, Justine is forced to break her lifelong vegetarianism and eat meat soon thereafter, she finds herself going through a violent metamorphosis where she can’t kick a sudden craving for flesh and begins to desire human meat as well. The story follows Justine (Garance Marillier), a young woman who gets into the same veterinary school her parents attended (and that her sister Alexia currently attends). In fact, in the wake of Titane’s success, Raw has become a potent companion piece. Whatever you think of Ducournau and her often sickness-inducing films, you can’t deny that she has a distinctive voice. Interspersed between all this are dance party scenes with impeccable needle drops, body horror giving way to situational comedy and oddly disquieting moments of familial tenderness.Īll that I just described could be seen as a synopsis of either of filmmaker Julia Ducournau’s films - this year’s much talked about Cannes’ grand prize winner Titane or her 2016 feature debut Raw. She’s primarily steadied through this monstrous change by an equally unstable family member.
She tries to hide her guttural urges, but they often betray her. Her own flesh is torn away, as she transforms into something new and frightening. A young woman goes through a grotesque change as she experiences violent lust.
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