OK, so this isn’t promo material for Julia Ducournau’s 2016 French horror film Raw, but whatever this is for was probably more entertaining. The coming of age cannibal film received outstanding compliments on the festival circuit but did not live up to its praise. Don’t let that poster up there distract you from the rest of this review.

Another poster with a bloody-chinned child, but this time there isn’t a good film beyond it. Raw jumps the gun on most of its reveals in an attempt to shock the viewer. Most of the set pieces are introduced unnaturally and are presented in a way that tries to trick the viewer into thinking they are watching a smart film, but in reality Raw is a cheap attempt to gross you out. Even the snippets of dream sequences in the first half never get a proper pay off.

There are many illogical ways the characters react with their environments and the tones of the film are all over the place. The ending is reminiscent of The Neon Demon, but makes even less sense in this context. I would only recommend Raw to those desperate for a quick fix of people biting each other in public or who have an Andrew W.K. fetish. Otherwise, skip this mess of a film.

1 much needed bloody bib out of 5

★☆☆☆☆