This controversial erotic thriller from Meg Ryan is on Netflix and you should watch it this weekend

Looking for something daring to watch this weekend? We recommend that you hit play ‘Raw Flesh’, a highly underrated erotic thriller starring Meg Ryan that has just slipped into the Netflix movie catalog. This is not just any example of this genre popularized in the late 80s and early 90s: it is a film directed by Oscar winner Jane Campion that subverts the gaze of desire to empower its female lead. And on top of that it has serial killers, chases and very risqué sex scenes. What else do you need?

Released in 2003 and based on Susanna Moore’s 1995 novel‘Rived Flesh’ follows the story of Frannie Avery, a professor who teaches creative writing in New York City and has aspirations to write crime novels, so she always has her eye on what is happening on the streets. .

One night, Frannie inadvertently witnesses a sexual moment between a man and a woman, and the intensity of the intimacy of that moment awakens her inner voyeur.. And, of course, the desire to be in the arms of that mysterious man of whom she will only remember the tattoo on his wrist. Is there a relationship between this encounter and the subsequent perverse crime that occurs near his apartment and that will lead the police to his door? And what is so familiar and irresistible about this detective (played by Mark Ruffalo) on the case? You see where the shots go.

The eighties and nineties erotic thriller was heir to classic film noir: tormented detective stories, femme fatale type women who drive them crazy, ambiguous moralities, uncontrollable sexual desire, plots of crime and violence… From ‘Fatal Attraction’ to ‘ Basic Instinct’, the clichés of the genre were reinvented, shaped and modernized, but too often they were adjusted to a masculine gaze too anchored to traditional archetypes. With ‘In raw meat’, Jane Campion turned the tables to create an erotic thriller where dangerous sexuality is that of men. And it’s not a flirtatious danger, but a real, dark, terrifying one, something that leaves the protagonist in a constant dilemma between her deepest desires and the need to protect herself from a world cruel to women.

This refreshing perspective It does not prevent the film from being, in essence, an intense and absorbing suspense thriller that keeps the classic mystery of: who is the murderer? If you enjoy the best true crime on Netflix and have seen ‘Seven’ and other mystery movies of that style more than once, we have no doubt that you are going to enjoy ‘Rived Flesh’. Even so, it’s better not to look for references or comparisons: this film is unique and, now that it’s available on Netflix, it’s time to claim it and put it in the place it deserves. For now, we put it among the best erotic movies in history.

The film was controversial at its premiere due to the break it meant for the two women in charge of the project. On the one hand, Jane Campion was leaving behind the delicacy of ‘The Piano’ and other projects to try a new genre where she would explore her ever-present obsession with intimacy and desire. On the other hand, Meg Ryan stunned viewers with full nudity and a shadow-laden character that no longer had anything to do with her innocent rom-com heroines. like ‘When Harry met Sally’, ‘Something to remember’ or ‘You have an e-mail’.

The truth is Campion wrote the script with Nicole Kidman in mind (who had already starred in more daring projects such as ‘Eyes Wide Shut’, and with whom he had already worked on ‘Portrait of a Lady’), but Ryan gave his all and, despite the criticism he received from some sectors of the press, this remains one of his best performances.

If you were looking for a powerful option to watch this weekend, ‘Rived Flesh’ is already part of the best thrillers and mystery movies on Netflix and you would do well to settle this outstanding score.