Titane (2021)

Titane review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Julia Ducournau drew a lot of attention for her coming-of-age body horror Raw which had a perfect balance of grotesque and social horror. So when I heard she had a new film coming out, I tried to know as little as possible coming in. Given that the film was a major festival feature, winning top honors at Cannes, it was impossible to not hear something. Thankfully, I only learned of a hint of the provocative nature in the first act and little else. Yet even with this knowledge, I still found myself impressed by just how unpredictable a film Titane turned out to be.

So if you don’t want any spoilers and want to witness a truly surprising and messed up movie, consider this a spoiler warning.

Titane follows the life of Alexia. As a girl, Alexia found herself in a car crash that gave her a metal plate in her skull. After her recovery, Alexia hugs the family car. She grows up loving cars, even more, becoming a model who is hired to dance upon cars. Alexia’s obsession goes far beyond just hugging and dancing. She has sex with cars. The mechanics of which are too weird to question; all you need to know is that seatbelts are apparently useful for S&M.

Alexia’s erotic feelings for cars take an even stranger turn when she finds herself pregnant. She couldn’t have become pregnant with a human, considering every sexual encounter she has leads to murder, usually with her metal hairband that she jams into ears. In fact, she favors cars more than people as she remains distant from her parents and uncomfortable around those who want her for sex. To her, cars seem like the only entity she relates to. Cars are quiet and they don’t judge. Having a baby born from metal seems fitting.

But Alexia has more to worry about than metal being shredding her womb. Her murders are starting to catch up with her as one encounter leads to her killing more people than she intended. Seeking to hide, Alexia covers up her boobs and her baby bump to put on the look of a man. Going even further, she poses as a boy who had been missing for years. She becomes reunited with the boy’s father Vincent, who has become a mess of drugs and sadness. Vincent, feeling that his life is getting back on track, employs Alexia as a member of the fire department he heads.

From there, the film takes some wild turns, even more than the ones I mentioned. All of it is so odd and surreal yet there’s some heart to this story. Ultimately, Alexia and Vincent both want the same thing. They want to be loved and feel as though they can’t find anywhere. Alexia, believing love is something not found in humans, remains quiet, reserved, and distant from Vincent for more than just maintaining her bizarre secret. Vincent, however, is incredibly accepting of Alexia, even after realizing the man may not be his son (or even a man). Does the family bond even matter for a man who is drowning in his sorrows and just wants to feel some sense of warmth in his loneliness that only increases with age?

Titane is absolutely not going to be everybody’s cup of tea. It’s bursting with grotesque body horror as Alexia’s childbirth involves metal edges protruding from her belly and bleeding motor oil out of her nipples. All that stuff is weird and it only gets weirder when you consider the mixed messages of what the film has to say about switching genders. For the most part, Titane remains just as profoundly heartfelt as it is darkly surreal.