10 Best Raw Moments
8. The First Party
On the first night of school, Justine crawls through the intense hazing rituals in the corridors of the school building to reach a debaucherous party. There are students screaming and cheering, alcohol flowing like water; everyone is on top of everyone else.
The scene is glittery and all-encompassing. We are aware of Justine’s fear and her distinct otherness from her peers who seem to melt effortlessly into the chaos. But we are also tantalized and intrigued by the space.
Ducournau evokes the glamour of wealthy teen parties – like the kind seen in ‘Gossip Girl’ or dreamed about in Superbad – while holding onto that unsettling feeling that something will go wrong.
7. Watching Adrien Play Soccer
Our heroine Justine is innocent and subdued in nature. Earlier in the film, we learn that she’s a virgin and an excellent student. However, after the party and the initial taste for blood, we start to understand that Justine is quelling urges more desperate and far more sinister than the average teen girl. In this scene, the allegory for budding female sexuality rings loud and clear.
Justine watches her roommate Adrien (Rabah Nait Oufella) play soccer with his peers. Though he’s gay, he’s the typical teenage heartthrob – popular, boisterous, incredibly crude.
Garance Marillier gives us a thousand yard stare straight out of a Kubrick film and produces one of the most iconic shots of the film. She is ravenous, hungry, a predator tracing the every move of her prey. This moment is brilliant and understated.
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6. Justine Bites at a Corpse
In a similar moment of acting excellence, Justine is confronted with her strange and chaotic behavior after a violent night of drinking.
Adrien confronts her with a video where she, egged on by Alexia, attempts to bite the hand of a corpse at a party. In the clip, Justine looks almost feral, her eyes black and devoid of human emotion. She crouches on the ground, mimicking the initial hazing scene as we watch her humanity dart from her body. She ends the scene by screaming “why didn’t you stop me?”. It’s a refrain that will go on to haunt her.
