Raw(2017)

Focus Features

R
1h 39m
- Drama
- Horror

Release Date: Mar 10, 2017 | Limited

A young woman, studying to be a vet, develops a craving for human flesh.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release (Independent) | Mar 10, 2017

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$24,825
Total US & Canada:
$514,870
Total International
$2,583,381
Total Worldwide:
$3,098,251

Current Showtimes

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(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Julia Ducournau
Director

Ella Rumpf
Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Stereo

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: France,Belgium

Language: French

Summaries

Plot Summary

Justine (Garance Marillier) is a life-long vegetarian who begins her first semester at veterinary school, the same one her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumph) is attending and where their parents met. On her first night, she meets her roommate Adrien (Rabah Nait Oufella), and they are forced to partake in a week-long hazing ritual, welcoming the new students. They are brought to a party, where Alexia shows Justine old class photos of students bathed in blood, including one with their parents. The next morning, the new class is splattered with blood and is forced to eat raw rabbit kidneys. Justine refuses because of her vegetarianism, but Alexia forces her to eat one. Justine leaves with Adrien and later discovers an itchy rash all over her body. She goes to the doctor, who diagnoses her with food poisoning and gives her cream for the rash.The next day, Justine begins having sudden cravings for meat, which makes her feel ashamed. That evening, Justine and Adrien take a late-night trip to a gas station so no one will see her eating meat. Unsatisfied, she eats raw chicken in the morning, and later throws up a long bundle of her own hair she had been chewing on. That night, Alexia attempts to give her a bikini wax, but when Alexia tries to cut the wax off with sharp scissors, Justine kicks her away and Alexia accidentally cuts off her own finger. Alexia faints, and Justine picks up the finger, tastes the blood, and starts eating it. Alexia wakes up to find Justine doing this but later tells their parents that her dog, Quicky, ate it.The next morning, Alexia takes Justine to a deserted road, where she jumps in front of a car, causing the two people in it to crash into a tree. Alexia starts eating one of the passengers so that her sister would "learn"; instead, Justine is dismayed. Despite this, Justine's craving for human meat grows and she starts lusting after Adrien.That night, Justine arrives at a party where paint is thrown at her as part of another hazing ritual and she is forced to make out with some guy. While kissing, Justine bites the middle of his bottom lip off, leaving the other party guests shocked in disgust. Justine goes back to her dorm and takes a shower, where she picks a chunk of his lip out of her teeth and eats it. Justine confides in Adrien and they end up having sex, during which Justine tries to bite Adrien but instead bites her own arm until it bleeds, seeming to orgasm while doing so.At another party, Justine gets extremely intoxicated and Alexia takes her to the morgue. The next day, everyone in school stares at Justine, some avoiding her. Adrien shows her a video where Justine is crawling on all fours, trying to take a bite out of the arm of a corpse, which Alexia pulls out of reach with a crowd of bewildered party guests booing and watching. Justine confronts Alexia and fights her, eventually biting each other until they are pulled apart by other students. Justine helps Alexia up, and they walk each other back to their dorms.The next morning, Justine wakes up in bed with Adrien but she notices blood on her hand and pulls off the blankets, finding Adrien dead with most of his right leg eaten and a stab wound in his back. Justine then sees a bloody Alexia slumped on the floor. Justine is initially furious that Alexia killed Adrien but then cleans Alexia and herself up in the shower.Alexia is arrested and imprisoned for the murder of Adrien, and Justine is sent back home. There, Justine's father tells her that what happened is neither hers nor Alexia's fault. He explains that when he first met their mother, he could not understand why she did not want to be with him. Her father says he finally realized when they kissed the first time, indicating a scar on his lip. He then opens his shirt, revealing scars and missing chunks of his chest.... revealing that Justine's mother is also a cannibal. Justine's father tells her that she will find a solution.

Storyline

Justine, raised as a rigorous vegetarian, arrives as a freshman at the reputable Saint-Exupéry Veterinary School. But after leaving the nest, Justine abruptly moves into a mad new world of strange school traditions and vicious initiation tests. And before long, she must chew over her unshakable herbivorous beliefs. As Justine descends deeper and deeper into the sickening realm of uncharted animalistic tendencies, an unprecedented and equally morbid craving for meat will transform her into something entirely different. But now that Justine's corporeal awakening is finally complete, is there a point in denying her hunger for warm, raw flesh? — Nick Riganas