"The film became too much for a couple patrons," said Ryan Werner, who is handling the film's marketing on the ground at TIFF.
A Midnight Madness screening of the cannibal film Raw turned into a medical scene early Tuesday morning as paramedics were called to treat multiple audience members who had passed out.
"An ambulance had to be called to the scene as the film became too much for a couple patrons," said Ryan Werner, who is handling the film's marketing on the ground at the Toronto Film Festival and was at the screening.
The graphic film has become a must-see for horror fans after taking the FIPRESCI Critics' Prize in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it made its world premiere without incident.
The mobbed screening also had top agents and managers on hand jockeying for the attention of director Julia Ducournau, who is currently unsigned.
The French-language film about a vegetarian college student who slowly becomes a cannibal became one of the most buzzed-about European films out of Cannes for its potential to cross over with U.S. audiences (Focus World bought the film out of Cannes).
Raw will next screen at Fantastic Fest, followed by Mayhem Film Festival, Celluloid Screams, Beyond Fest and the Sitges Film Festival.
Werner said he had only seen this type of physical reaction to a movie before with Lars von Trier's Antichrist.