The cannibalistic woman and her metaphorical power: Mediating crisis in twenty-first-century European film

This study examines the transformation of the classical myth of the female cannibal in contemporary European horror cinema, analysing Trouble Every Day (Denis 2001), Dans Ma Peau (de ), Raw () and The Neon Demon (). It argues that these films shift the cannibal from an object of male gaze to a protagonist whose violence, desire and transgression emerge from everyday social and familial structures. The analysis emphasizes the centrality of the female body, relationality and the negotiation of identity in contexts of social pressure, envy and cultural change. The study highlights the significance of this shift for European cultural imaginaries, revealing how contemporary horror reflects broader societal anxieties and the destabilization of normative social and gender roles.