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Raw (2016): A Masterclass in Horror Filmmaking

Another horror masterclass that I had the pleasure to get acquainted myself was 'Raw'. Another French production and I have now made peace with the fact that French Cinema and thus European Cinema at large is the most daring filmmakers of them all. They just go to extremes in order to find their complete and perfect vision. Raw was released in 2016 and it belongs to horror subgenre 'cannibalism'. Cannibalism, as you might be aware, is the practice of eating human flesh for either pleasure or hunger. It's disgusting, horrifying and just unacceptable. The film tells the story of a cannibalist family (here goes the film's crux) who doesn't let it's younger daughter eat meat. They are strict vegans. The girl decides to go to a reputed medical college and in the orientation ceremony, seniors ask the first year students to eat rabbit's heart. The girl decines but her elder sister, a senior herself, compels her to do so. The girl completes the ceremony and develops allergy next day. Goes under the treatment for some days and outta nowhere developes strong yearning for meat and not just ordinary meat but even human meat and at one moment, only human meat. One revelation leads to another and Raw just about breaks every conservative rule about horror filmmaking as there are. It was declared the 'best' film of year 2016 by many prominent critics and if you somehow find the courage to sit through its 90 minute runtime, you will have found a whole new outlook about our modern, grotesque and very different world. You just gotta see it to believe it. It's a triumph of imagination and horror filmmaking at its very best.


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