Raw Ending Explained, Plot, Cast, and Everything About the Movie
by A Maria
Updated Apr 20, 2023
Raw
Raw, also known as Grave in French, is a 2016 horror drama film from France and Belgium, written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The movie features a cast including Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, and Rabah Nait Oufella. The story follows a young vegetarian who enrolls in veterinary school and is exposed to meat for the first time.
As a result, she develops an insatiable craving for flesh. Raw had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2016, and was later released in the United States by Focus World on March 10, 2017, and in France by Wild Bunch on March 15, 2017.
Raw Ending Explained
Upon its debut, Raw, directed by Julia Ducournau, sparked mixed reactions ranging from audience members fainting to grand praise due to its grotesque scenes and ominous coming-of-age story. The film introduces us to Garance Marillier's character at a crossroads: leaving behind a seemingly normal life with her parents, and an energetic college experience with her older sister, Alexia (Ella Rumf).
Justine comes from an overprotective mother who has heavily instilled a vegetarian lifestyle in the family. She appears as an introverted personality, visibly nervous about the high expectations placed on her, as both of her parents attended the veterinarian institute where she is about to train to become a vet.
Raw Cast
Garance Marillier
Justine
Ella Rumpf
Alexia
Rabah Naït Oufella
Adrien
Laurent Lucas
Father
Joana Preiss
Mother
Bouli Lanners
The driver
Marion Vernoux
The nurse
Jean-Louis Sbille
The professor
CAST
CHARACTER
Raw movie Plot
Raw follows the story of a lifelong vegetarian named Justine as she begins her first semester at veterinary school, the same institution her older sister Alexia attends and where their parents met. Justine appears as an introverted personality who's visibly nervous about meeting high expectations, having come from an overprotective mother who's instilled a vegetarian lifestyle in the family.
On her first night, she meets her roommate Adrien and gets involved in a week-long hazing ritual that welcomes new students. The hazing includes eating raw rabbit kidneys, which Justine initially refuses due to her vegetarianism, but Alexia forces her to eat one. Later, Justine discovers an itchy rash all over her body, and she goes to the doctor, who diagnoses her with food poisoning.
The next day, Justine begins having cravings for meat, which makes her feel ashamed. She secretly eats meat and even raw chicken, vomits a bundle of her hair she had been chewing on, and accidentally bites off her sister's finger while trying to resist the urge to eat her. Alexia faints, and Justine picks up the finger, tastes the blood, and starts eating it.
Justine's craving for human flesh grows, and she ends up biting off someone's lip while kissing him at a party. She eventually confides in Adrien, and they have sex, during which she bites her own arm until it bleeds profusely, seemingly orgasmic while doing so.
At another party, Justine is taken to the morgue by Alexia, where she attempts to take a bite out of a corpse's arm as Alexia eggs her on. The following day, a video of this act surfaces, causing everyone at school to avoid her. Justine confronts Alexia and fights her, biting each other until they are pulled apart.
Later, Justine wakes up next to Adrien, covered in blood, only to find him dead with most of his right leg eaten and a stab wound in his back. Justine sees a bloody Alexia slumped on the floor. Alexia is imprisoned for the murder of Adrien, and Justine is sent back home.
At home, Justine's father reassures her that what occurred was not their fault and reveals his own scars and missing flesh on his chest, implying that he went through a similar experience. He provides Justine with reassurance that she will discover a solution to the situation.
Raw Overview
Directed by
Julia Ducournau
Written by
Julia Ducournau
Produced by
Jean de Forêts
Starring
Cinematography
Ruben Impens
Edited by
Jean-Christophe Bouzy
Music by
Jim Williams
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
Running time
99 minutes
Countries
Language
French
Budget
Box office
$3.1 million
SPECIFICATIONS
DETAILS
Raw ending explained - FAQs
Raw is a 2016 horror drama film about a young vegetarian named Justine who enrolls in veterinary school and is exposed to meat for the first time. As a result, she develops an insatiable craving for flesh.
Raw was written and directed by Julia Ducournau.
Raw features a cast including Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, and Rabah Nait Oufella.
Raw had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2016.
Raw was released in the United States by Focus World on March 10, 2017, and in France by Wild Bunch on March 15, 2017.