What Is Raw About?
The premise of Raw in 297 words, with nothing given away. The full story follows below.
In the austere halls of a renowned veterinary school, Justine steps into a world that feels both familiar and foreign. Raised in a sheltered household and committed to a vegetarian lifestyle, she arrives eager to follow in the footsteps of her older sister while confronting the legacy of the parents who first met on these very grounds. The campus pulses with the promise of rigorous study, yet it also drips with an undercurrent of tradition that hints at something far more primal beneath the surface.
The atmosphere is a blend of academic precision and unsettling ceremony, where new students are gently ushered into rituals that echo the family’s unconventional customs. Alexia, already entrenched in the school’s rhythm, becomes both a guide and a reminder of the hidden expectations that have long shaped their family’s identity. Alongside them, Adrien, a candid and supportive roommate, offers a different perspective, his presence brightening the corridors while also exposing Justine to emotions she has never permitted herself to explore.
As Justine navigates lectures, labs, and lingering whispers of the past, an unexpected appetite begins to surface, unsettling the foundations of her self‑image. The cravings she once dismissed as fleeting thoughts swell into a visceral longing, pulling her toward a darker, more instinctual side that clashes with her cultivated morals. This internal turbulence awakens dormant desires, stirring a sensual tension that forces her to question the boundaries between discipline and impulse.
The tone of the story is deliberately disquieting, weaving together sensuality, dread, and the stark beauty of a world where the line between humanity and animal instinct blurs. Justine finds herself at a crossroads, caught between the comforting expectations of her family and the unsettling truth that her true nature may be far more complex—and far more compelling—than she ever imagined.
What Happens in Raw?
The complete story of Raw, from the first scene to the last, in 860 words (about 4 minutes). Spoilers throughout.
Spoilers ahead
Justine, a lifelong vegetarian, begins her first semester at veterinary school, the same place where her older sister Alexia studied and where their parents once met. On her very first night, she meets her gay roommate Adrien, and they are swept into a week-long hazing ritual that welcomes the new students. The evening culminates at a party where Alexia proudly shows Justine old class photos of students bathed in blood, including one with their parents. The next morning, the entire new class is splattered with blood and forced to eat raw rabbit kidneys. Justine refuses because of her vegetarian beliefs, but Alexia pressures her to eat one anyway, setting a tone of coercion that will echo through the days that follow.
Justine leaves with Adrien and soon discovers an itchy rash spreading across her body. A doctor diagnoses food poisoning and prescribes soothing cream, but the medical explanation does little to quell the growing unease inside her. The very next day, Justine begins to crave meat, a craving she finds deeply embarrassing and confusing. In a bid to hide her hunger, she and Adrien attempt a late-night burglary of a cafeteria burger, yet their efforts are thwarted by the fear of discovery. Undeterred, she and Adrien make a midnight run to a gas station so no one will witness her defilement of her own principles, and the hunger intensifies. By morning she is unable to resist and eats raw chicken, later vomiting up a long strand of her own hair she had chewed on. The night’s chaos reaches a brutal moment when Alexia tries to perform a bikini wax on Justine; in a panic, Justine kicks her away and accidentally causes Alexia to cut off her own finger. Seeing the blood, Justine tastes it and begins to eat it, while Alexia feigns that their dog Quicky had eaten it to spare her sister the truth.
The next morning brings a grim turning point. Alexia takes Justine to a deserted road, where Alexia drives into a car, causing the occupants to crash into a tree. In a further display of twisted precociousness, Alexia begins to eat one of the passengers so that her sister will “learn” a brutal lesson. Justine is stunned and horrified, but the hunger inside her only grows stronger. Despite such horror, her appetite for human flesh blossoms, and she begins to lust after Adrien in a way that unsettles her conscience.
That night, Justine finds herself at another party where a hazing ritual throws paint over her and forces her to kiss a boy. During the kiss she bites through the middle of his lower lip, leaving others in the room shocked and repulsed. Back in her dorm, she showers and removes a chunk of lip that she had chewed from her own mouth, tasting the metallic truth of what she is becoming. She confides in Adrien, and the two share a chaotic, charged moment of closeness, culminating in sex. During their intimacy, Justine attempts to bite Adrien but ends up biting her own arm until it bleeds profusely, an act that seems to bring her a disturbing, ecstatic release.
A different party raises the tension even higher when Justine becomes severely intoxicated. Alexia escorts her to the morgue, a stark contrast to the festive atmosphere she left behind. The following day, Justine notices that every eye in the room seems trained on her. Adrien shows her a disturbing video of her crawling on all fours, trying to bite the arm of a corpse while Alexia eggs her on, provoking a chorus of boos and cheers from the watching crowd. The siblings confront one another and engage in a savage fight, biting at each other until they are pulled apart by their peers. In the aftermath, Justine helps Alexia to her feet and the two return to their dorms, moving through the campus as if tethered to the same bloody rhythm.
The next morning, Justine wakes up in bed with Adrien, covered in blood. She discovers Adrien dead, his right leg eaten and a stab wound in his back. In a stunned moment, she also sees Alexia slumped on the floor, covered in blood. Though initially furious that Alexia killed Adrien, Justine cleans both herself and her sister in the shower, attempting to wash away the terrible truth of what has happened. Alexia is subsequently imprisoned for the murder, and Justine is sent back home.
The drive home is a difficult one, and Justine’s father offers a counterintuitive kind of solace. He tells her that what happened is neither hers nor Alexia’s fault and shares a personal revelation: when he first met her mother, he couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t be with him. The father explains that he understood only when they kissed for the first time, revealing the scar on his lip. He then removes his shirt to show scars and missing chunks of his chest, a stark symbol of enduring pain and resilience. With that intimate disclosure, he assures Justine that she will find a way to live with what she has become, hinting that an answer—no matter how brutal or difficult—will emerge from within.
Raw Timeline: Every Key Event in Order
14 key events in the order they happen, from “First night at veterinary school and hazing” to “A fragile hope from shared scars”. 14 events name a place, across 13 locations.
- 1
First night at veterinary school and hazing
Justine arrives for her first semester at the veterinary school and quickly bonds with her roommate, Adrien. They are swept into a week-long hazing ritual designed to welcome the new students. The night centers on the campus and a party that kicks off the ordeal.
When:First night of semester Where:Veterinary school campus and dormitory
- 2
Blood-filled class photos reveal dark family ties
At the party, Alexia shows Justine old class photos soaked in blood, including one that shows their parents. The chilling images hint at a dark family legacy beneath the school’s surface. The moment unsettles Justine and foreshadows the violence to come.
When:During welcome party Where:Campus party
- 3
First rite of passage: raw rabbit kidneys
The next morning, the whole new class is splattered with blood and forced to eat raw rabbit kidneys as part of the initiation. Justine refuses the meal because she is a vegetarian, but Alexia insists she participate. The episode marks the first visible descent into the film’s cannibalistic impulses.
When:Next morning Where:Dining hall
- 4
Rash and misdiagnosis
Justine develops an itchy rash and sees a doctor, who diagnoses food poisoning and prescribes topical cream. The doctor’s quiet insistence that the body is reacting normally contrasts with Justine’s increasingly disturbing cravings. The visit underscores how the situation is spiraling beyond ordinary hunger.
When:Following the kidneys incident Where:Clinic
- 5
Cravings surface; late-night gas station run
Cravings for meat begin to overwhelm Justine, bringing shame and fear. After a failed attempt to steal a burger, she and Adrien slip out for a late-night trip to a gas station to eat without being seen. The secrecy heightens the sense that something is changing inside her.
When:That night Where:Gas station vicinity
- 6
Raw chicken and hair-eating symptoms
Her appetite intensifies the next morning as she eats raw chicken and later throws up a long bundle of hair she has been chewing. The alarming behavior marks a clear departure from her past vegetarian identity. Adrien’s presence feels increasingly necessary as she struggles to control the urge.
When:Following morning Where:Dorm room
- 7
Bikini wax misadventure and finger severing
During a bikini wax attempt in their dorm, Justine kicks away Alexia, and Alexia accidentally cuts off her own finger. The incident escalates their sibling rivalry and leaves both shaken. The moment signals the depth of their shared descent into violence.
When:Same day Where:Dorm bathroom
- 8
Tasting blood and cover-up
That night Justine licks and tastes the blood from the severed finger, eating it while Alexia pretends nothing happened and later tells their parents the dog ate the finger. The sisters’ bond fractures as secrecy and hunger take hold. The lie foreshadows the consequences to come.
When:That evening Where:Dorm
- 9
Deserted road tragedy and sister’s cruelty
On a deserted road, Alexia drags Justine to the edge and she jumps in front of a car, causing the two passengers to crash into a tree. Alexia begins eating one of the passengers, insisting that Justine will learn from the act. Justine is horrified by her sister’s cruelty and what she herself has become part of.
When:The following day Where:Deserted road
- 10
Party aftermath: lip-biting and secret feeding
At a party later that night, Justine is hazed again and forced to kiss a boy. While kissing, she bites through his bottom lip, shocking the crowd. She returns to her dorm, pulls a chunk of his lip from her teeth, and eats it. She confides in Adrien as they have sex, during which Justine bites her own arm until it bleeds profusely.
When:That night Where:Campus party and dorm
Show the other 4 events of Raw Hide the last 4 events
- 11
Morgue trip and a disturbing video
Another party ends with Justine becoming extremely intoxicated and being taken to the morgue by Alexia. The next day a viral video shows Justine crawling on all fours, attempting to bite the arm of a corpse as Alexia eggs her on, eliciting boos and cheers from the party crowd.
When:Following day Where:Morgue and campus
- 12
Confrontation, carnage, and a deadly morning
Justine confronts Alexia and they fight, biting at each other until bystanders intervene. The next morning Justine wakes up beside Adrien, covered in blood, to discover Adrien dead with most of his right leg eaten and a stab wound in his back, while Alexia lies slumped nearby. The sisters struggle to process the carnage and its aftermath.
When:Morning after morgue incident Where:Dorm
- 13
Arrest, homeward bound, and a family truth
Alexia is imprisoned for Adrien’s murder and Justine is sent back home. Their father meets her at home and explains that the family’s past and their mother’s choices have shaped what happened, revealing scars on his chest and lip as proof. He offers a glimmer of hope that Justine will find a solution.
When:Days after Where:Family home; police
- 14
A fragile hope from shared scars
In the final moment, the father’s scars become a symbol of resilience, telling Justine she will find a way to cope with her condition. The film closes on the idea that the pain of their family history can guide a path forward.
When:End Where:Family home
Who Are the Main Characters in Raw?
3 characters, among them Justine (Garance Marillier), Adrien and Alexia: who each one is and the part they play in the story.
- J(
Justine (Garance Marillier)
A lifelong vegetarian and first-year veterinary student whose initial innocence gradually fractures as she experiences powerful meat cravings. Her moral conflict, intense curiosity, and evolving sexuality propel her toward shocking acts that blur the line between victim and predator.
- 🧬 Transformation
- 🫀 Desire
- 🩸 Violence
- A
Adrien
Justine’s gay roommate and late-night confidant with whom she shares a risky, raw attraction. His presence anchors Justine’s early explorations, but his fate becomes entangled with the escalating chaos of the hazing and the carnivorous turn.
- 🏳️🌈 Romance
- 🩸 Violence
- 🧭 Boundary-testing
- A
Alexia
Justine’s older sister who pushes the boundaries of their bond, encourages or egging on Justine, and ultimately commits acts that propel her sister toward greater depravity. Her cold pragmatism and thrill-seeking mask a protective but dangerous sisterly dynamic.
- 👭 Family
- 🗡️ Violence
- 🧠 Manipulation
Where and When Is Raw Set?
Raw is set in Veterinary school campus. Here is why the place matters to the story.
Where
Veterinary school campus
The story unfolds on the campus of a veterinary school, where new students undergo a brutal hazing ritual. The environment shifts from clinical classrooms to the hospital-like morgue and late-night party venues, reflecting a dual life of study and ritual. The campus setting anchors the characters’ descent into blood-soaked appetites, showing how place can amplify secrecy, pressure, and transformation.
- 🎓 Campus
- 🏥 Educational setting
- 🩸 Dark atmosphere
What Are the Themes of Raw?
3 ideas the story keeps returning to, among them Cannibalism, Identity & Desire and Family & Rivalry.
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01
Cannibalism
Justine’s hunger for meat drives her from vegetarian ethics toward grotesque self- and other-cannibalism, using eating as a visceral measure of control and power. The repeated acts—eating raw meat, tasting blood, and consuming parts of others—frame desire as a force that overrides morality. The film uses cannibalism to explore transformation, appetite, and the collapse of boundaries between self and body.
-
02
Identity & Desire
Justine’s awakening is tied to her sexuality and appetite, blurring lines between repulsion and attraction. The narrative follows her shifting self-image as she navigates suppression, temptation, and allure, culminating in intimate moments that feel both dangerous and liberating. The transformation is as much about identity as it is about appetite, revealing how desire can redefine personhood.
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03
Family & Rivalry
The sister dynamic with Alexia drives the plot’s darkest turns—an obsessive bond, manipulation, and cruelty that pushes Justine toward ever more extreme acts. Alexia’s flirtation with danger and her role in orchestrating or intensifying Justine’s cravings exposes a corrosive family dynamic. The hazing culture and siblings’ competing loyalties culminate in tragedy and reveal how kinship can weaponize vulnerability.
What Kind of Film Is Raw?
Dark in tone, with steady pacing and a straightforward story, going by the plot summary.
- Tone
- Dark
- Pacing
- Steady
- Story
- Straightforward
- Intensity
- High
- Ending
- Bittersweet
An intensely unsettling and body-horror-fueled journey of self-discovery that follows a vegetarian student as she confronts her brutal family legacy and repulsive, burgeoning desires.
- unsettling
- sensual
- body horror
- claustrophobic
- anxious
- carnal
- coming of age
- self discovery
- repressed desire
- family secrets
Content notes: cannibalism, gore, hazing, self mutilation, corpse desecration, violent death.
Quiz
How well do you remember Raw? Test yourself on the story.
