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A 2016 coming-of-age body horror drama film is so graphic it caused audiences to faint at screenings upon release. The French film Grave, released as Raw in the UK, was written and directed by Julia Ducournau, and starred Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, and Rabah Nait Oufella.

The plot follows Garance's lifelong vegetarian Justine as she begins her first semester at a veterinary school, which her family have ties to. In her first week, she is forced to eat raw meat as part of a hazing ritual. This leads to cravings for meat - specifically human flesh. As her desires get more and more out of control, she finds herself in numerous compromising positions, and it becomes more and more difficult to cover her tracks, and her actions have huge repercussions for her friends. The film was made in just four months, with two months of pre-production and two months of shooting. Given the cannibalism plot, it is unsurprising that it proved controversial.

Despite this, it proved a hit with critics, winning a slew of awards. It was screened in the Critics' Week section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize.

It also won several awards in European film festivals, including the top prizes at the Sitges Film Festival, Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer, and the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival.

Down Under won Best Feature Film at the 2016 Monster Fest in Melbourne, Australia.

However, the graphic content proved too much for some audience members, and during a screening at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, some viewers received emergency medical services after allegedly fainting over some of the scenes.

Director Ducournau said this reaction had left her "shocked" during a Q&A after the screening. She later told Variety: "I didn't see that coming. I didn't see that it could go to this extent. I just asked, like, how they were, and I hoped that they were well and stuff because I felt a bit guilty, of course."

She also lamented the fact that the movie had been overshadowed by the reaction, saying: "At one point... they were not talking about my movie, because I could not recognise my movie in what was being said. But I still feel sorry for these two poor people because everyone keeps asking me about them."

This wasn't a one-off, as in less publicised incidents, extreme reactions occurred at other screenings, including one in Paris where a friend of the director fainted.

The movie was released in the UK on 7 April 2017 by Universal Pictures and rated an 18 by the BBFC for strong, gory images and injury detail. It currently has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Those brave enough to watch it can rent the movie on Prime Video or YouTube.