Having been showered with acclaim and awards at this year’s film festivals, meaty psychological horror Raw now has a US theatrical release locked down.
The feature debut of writer/director Julia Ducournau, Raw stars a host of impressive (relative) newcomers, chiefly Garance Marillier (making her feature debut), Ella Rumpf and Rabah Nait Oufella.
Marillier portrays the teenaged Justine, who commences her studies at veterinary school to follow in her family members’ footsteps. Raised as a vegetarian, Justine is pressured at school to try meat for the first time. Once she does, she plumbs both the depths of her own soul and tests the limits of her darkest cravings.
Raw had its world premiere earlier this year in the International Critics’ Week section at Cannes, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. Since then it has picked up any number of prizes, and secured itself as a fan and industry favourite. It won the Best Director award at Fantastic Fest’s Next Wave competition, the Golden Octopus Award and the Audience Award at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival; and three prizes at the Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival, those being the Citizen Kane Award for Best Up-and-Coming Director, the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best Feature-Length European Film, and the Carnet Jove Jury Award for Best Feature-Length Film. Its latest accolade was at the BFI London Film Festival earlier this month, where it won the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature.
Released by Focus World, Raw will open in select US cities on March 10th, 2017, with a digital home release to follow in the summer.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
