If you do not know who Bo Burnham is, you are probably living under a rock. The famous comedian, singer and director has a brilliant sense of humour and was recently seen in his fourth comedy special on Netflix, Bo Burnham: Inside that received six Emmy nominations, winning three. It became one of lockdown’s shining moments as Burnham uses his time inside to create some of his finest work.
In a recent conversation, Burnham named his favourite horror film of all time, which is now streaming on Netflix. Given his eclectic taste, no wonder the comedian chose one of the most disturbing films in the history of horror — Julia Ducournau’s 2016 horror flick Raw.
In her debut feature, the filmmaker had a brilliant ensemble, namely Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Thomas Mustin and more, while Garance Marillier starred in the lead role as Justine. Grisly, brutal and bloody, the film abounds in sex, blood and gore, besides featuring crude language and drug use.
It focuses on a veterinary school freshman named Justine who is a strict vegetarian. During the school’s vicious hazing ritual, she is compelled to consume meat and takes a sudden liking to it. Her unhealthy attraction turns into a carnivorous obsession for raw flesh and leads to the development of unthinkable animalistic tendencies.
A brilliant watch for blood and gore aficionados, the film is truly unsettling, to say the least. It plays not only on our visual receptors but also our primal ones, using the very notion of cannibalism to speak to our most integral moral ethics.
Burnham, who has watched the film three times so far, is in awe of it and cannot fathom how it could be a debut film for Ducournau. He has showered the film with praises. “It only feels like seasoned masters are able to really manipulate an audience,” claimed Burnham, “beat to beat, to really feel like you are being so perfectly manipulated, and you’re just in the hands of someone who has complete control of you. It’s just unbelievable to have out of the gate,” he gushed.
Watch Raw on Netflix now!
