French filmmaker Julia Ducournau’s (Raw) wildly uneven yet highly ambitious Titane is a frenzied, are you able to suspend your belief, adrenalin-pumping film that is not for the faint of heart or those who don’t deal well with queasiness in their filmgoing experiences. With Rotten Tomatoes Scores of 89% (critics) and 85% (audiences), I find it ironic that I couldn’t identify ten people to whom I might recommend this film. Yet for the film purists who crave the originality that mainstream movies too often fail to deliver, you’ll find a bizarre take on humanity richly laced with stylistic metaphors in what originates as a slasher-flick before transitioning into something incredibly more intimate in its progression.
Titane can be a difficult watch for some. If watching someone trying to give themselves an abortion using a sharp metal object inside of herself or someone trying to break their nose on a bathroom sink purposefully makes you squeamish, this likely isn’t a film for you. But, on the other hand, if you do okay with bodily torture, the film won’t take you anywhere you’re unprepared to go. Titane is wildly disturbing. Ducournau takes you to the darkest and most perverse world of any movie released in 2021. However, where we start is not where we end. And the journey is worth the ride.
We first meet our protagonist Alexia (Agathe Rousselle in a breakout debut performance) in a prologue when she’s a little girl. She’s in a terrible automobile accident, the direct result of her father becoming distracted by the constant annoyance coming from her from the backseat of the vehicle he was driving. The word “titane” refers to the titanium plate that holds Alexeia’s skull together after the accident. Though she sheds the contraption once her skull becomes stable when we meet her again 20 years later, there is still a stapled-together ripple-looking scar visible above her right ear on her partially shaven head.
Because of the accident, Alexia has an intensely morbid fascination with automobiles. She earns money by sexily stripping at car shows. Moreover, when alone, we see her engage and contort with a flame-painted Pontiac, the euphoric eruption causing Alexia to become pregnant. It’s never much of a mystery to her; the pregnancy is from her encounter in the car. Alexia is gay, and while not explicitly stated, we can assume that she’s never had sex with a man, which makes her pregnancy raise some concerns.
Alexia also has a particular obsession with killing people. She’s a resentful person, driven by distrust, boiling with rage. Her most recent killing spree is in its infancy when Ducournau introduces Alexia to us. We can assume this is not her first time thirsting for blood. However, whether it is or isn’t, it seems a little too convenient, without knowing more, that this is the one that results in her being part of a city-wide search. With a movie as unconventional as Titane, I won’t question Ducournau’s reasons for this part of Alexia’s character. However, I think it resulted in some troubles with continuity, most notably her ability to turn off her serial killer tendencies and ways to advance a story. But what was different about this killing spree when compared to her others? Was she so careful in everything before meeting her that her killings had never caused her to worry before?
In either case, to protect herself, Alexia chops all of her hair while purposefully giving herself two black eyes and a broken nose just so that she can match and assume the identity of Adrien, a young man of about her age, who has been missing since he was a boy. She goes so far as to wrap her breasts tightly and her bulging pregnant belly, hiding in loose-fitting clothing to conceal her female parts further. Vincent (Vincent Lindon – At War, The Apparition), the missing boy’s father, is machismo. An aging chief of a local firehouse, this man’s man injects himself nightly with steroids to combat his sagging body, in part so he can play the rugged role to his much younger, vigorous all-male crew. Vincent is so happy that Alexia might be his long-lost son that there is no request for a DNA test. It almost seems that Alexia (posing as Adrien) wants to be his son. Therefore, he’s not going to ask any questions.
At this point, our movie takes a turn and where I’ll leave you. Titane becomes a different story as Alexia and Vincent become acquainted from her point of view and reacquainted from his. The violent movie becomes a tender tale of caregiving, love, and protection. It’s almost like one of those tales where you never knew what you were missing until you had it, and then you never knew how you ever lived without it. Ducournau develops it well. However, it contradicted all that we knew until that point, including Alexia’s addiction to killing. We needed more of a transition from Act I to Act II. While each part of the film was effective, we needed more of a link between each. While she succeeded in other parts of her movie, this was where Ducournau faltered.
Titane is an unconventional movie that the majority will love or hate. Audiences and others who want to see it through multiple times won’t be able to sit through it. As someone who only saw it to review it, I was intrigued by its premise and engaged with its story. However, because of its non-linearity, Titane will not be a movie I’ll revisit even when it tries to be. I’m glad I saw it, but I’ll never watch it again.
Plot 7/10 (some interesting themes were stronger than the overall plot as a whole)
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 7.5/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 7.5/10
84.5%
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