Review of Ravening

Ravening (2019)
8/10
Weird, Haunting, Mesmerising and Beautiful
13 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
My interpretation of the movie is that the meat symbolises love and sexual act. The protagonists are unable to express their natural feelings due to our social and moral norms and they find 'meat', a way to express that feeling. Sumon calls her 'baido'(elder sister) and Nirmali is also open to her husband about Sumon as she invites him for dinner.

When Sumon is scared to touch her, thus failing to get physical with her, he discovers the idea to give her his flesh. This act probaby symbolises sexual intercourse as Sumon is getting inside her body. When Nirmali eats the meat she founds it very tasty and soon Nirmali gets addicted to the stuff. We can see her feeling ecstatic as she flies in the sky after consuming the meat that probably signifies orgasm. At the end we can finally see Nirmali touching Sumon's hand for the first time as their true identity is revealed to everyone. They have no one to be afraid of. They have lost everything and by losing everything they have found eachother.

The human flesh can also be interpreted as the 'forbidden fruit'. The forbidden meat makes them to commit the sin i.e. gluttony and sets them to the path of crime.

The weird thing is that one can relate to the protagonists. Nirmali, a lonely woman who seeks the company of a young adventurous man. She gets addicted to the 'forbidden'. Sumon who selflessly provides her with his parts of body and even murders a man. The same man with whom the movie starts alongside the other two(the rickshaw driver). The man becomes the collateral damage. Despite the protagonists have a twisted psychological mindset and follow the path of crime, somehow they are very much human and relatable. They are as close to as your friends and neighbors. We all have a 'Sumon' and 'Nirmali' within ourselves and that is just haunting.

One of the central theme of the movie can be summarised by a dialogue from the movie itself, " Actually, the definition of 'normal' isn't universal. When it comes to eating meat what's normal for you... May be abnormal for others."

Thus the movie deals with north-eastern food habits, platonic love, lust, desire, repressing thoughts, spiritual love, forbidden love, murder and gluttony. The screenplay, cinematography, acting and the background score is mesmerising. The atmosphere of Guahati can be easily felt. The BGM and the off screen violence was chilling and will send you to a translucent state. This movie is not meant for everyone but still a must watch.
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