10 Horror Movies With No Obvious Villain

Before shocking audiences with car-based body horror Titane, French filmmaker Julia Ducournau traumatised moviegoers with cannibal coming-of-age film Raw.

Starring Garance Marillier as vegetarian veterinary student Justine (who also makes a cameo appearance in Titane), Raw sees her life descend into bloody carnage when, at a hazing ritual, she’s forced to eat raw meat. Doing so, however, wakens an uncontrollable desire in her to consume more meat.

It doesn’t take long for this new craving to take a sinister turn. With no way to quell her new-found hunger, Justine finds herself drawn to human flesh.

Though Justine is seen committing stomach-churning acts of gratuity, with eating her sister’s severed finger being one of the most unpleasant scenes to endure, Justine is never framed as a villainous character.

Unlike other onscreen cannibals, Justine is a much more sympathetic character. College is a whole new situation for her in which she’s experiencing many things (especially sex) for the first time. Justine is discovering her new pleasures, which manifest symbolically through her devious appetites.

Raw is a fierce feminist horror film that’s about a young woman coming to terms with and learning to control her urge for pleasure.