Multiple audience members ‘pass out’ at screening of gory cannibal horror film

[Miss Alone]

Midnight Madness film screening at the Toronto International Film Festival turned into quite the horror story when paramedics were called onto the scene after multiple audience members fainted during the show. The film being screened was the much buzzed-about French cannibal horror called Raw.

The Hollywood Reporter quotes the film’s marketing man on the spot Ryan Werner: “An ambulance had to be called to the scene as the film became too much for a couple patrons,” he said, speculating that the only other time he’d seen a reaction like this was for Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist.
Raw, part coming-of-age story, part gross-out horror tale of a French college student’s slow transformation into a cannibal has been attracting buzz ever since winning the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May.



It is directed by first-timer Julia Ducournau, who, according to THR, was mobbed after the screening by agents and managers hungry to sign her.
Raw can be categorised as part of the ‘New French Extremity’ movement, which is noted for films (like Martyrs, Frontier(s), Haute Tension) with excessive gore, violence and moral bankruptcy.

The film will next screen at Fantastic Fest, followed by Mayhem Film Festival, Celluloid Screams, Beyond Fest and the Sitges Film Festival.