Fainting spells reported during a Toronto International Film Festival screening have been debunked as a hoax, according to Jezebel. The incidents were all a part of the marketing for Raw, a movie about a vegetarian who becomes a cannibal. According to a statement from the film's reps to Jezebel, the fainting was staged.
This story was originally posted on September 13 at 9:30 p.m.
Every once in a while, a film comes along that offers a cinematic experience way more intense than 3D. Melancholia, with its scene of another planet colliding with Earth, comes to mind. As does Irréversible, which features one of the most horrifying and unflinching depictions of sexual assault ever. Now, add cannibal thriller Raw to the list of movies likely to leave you shaking in your seat.
That's because the movie has made multiple Toronto International Film Festival viewers pass out, according to a Hollywood Reporter story.
"An ambulance had to be called to the scene as the film became too much for a couple patrons," Ryan Werner, handling the TIFF marketing push, told THR.
The film, director Julia Ducournau's first, is about a French woman who gradually shifts from being a vegetarian to a cannibal. Ducournau was well-aware of the challenge of even keeping audience members in the room.
"To make this challenge even more interesting and to go to the fullest, I thought, 'What’s the worst thing my character can do?' That would create a rejection, an instant rejection from the audience. And how am I going to keep them in spite of that?" she told IndieWire.
Might we recommend having them all stay conscious to start? Many times, horror movies will try to create a buzz around themselves that their movie is too much to handle. But this seems legit. And the film has chops, as Focus Features bought it out of a buzzy Cannes showing for US distribution.
Now, let's see if we can handle it. Check out a clip from the film below.