Title – Titane (2021)

Director – Julia Ducournau (Raw) 

Cast – Agathe Rousselle, Vincent Lindon

Plot – Victim of an horrific car accident when she was a child, resulting in a titanium plate being inserted into her skull, troubled Alexia (Rousselle) ends up in the care of aging firefighter Vincent (Lindon) as the two lost souls find potential solace in each others company while Alexia deals with a life changing event set to occur in her life at any moment. 

“Love is a dog from Hell”

Review by Eddie on 14/12/2021

Sometimes as a long term movie fan it feels as though you’ve almost seen and heard it all when it comes to narrative features but then along comes a film like Titane that reminds you once more that there’s always something new and fresh just around the corner to shake you and your expectations up good and proper. 

The winner of this years esteemed Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, French director Julia Ducournau follows on from her shocking and controversial horror film debut from 2016 Raw with Titane, a film that will do nothing but increase the notoriety of her name as a director and fresh new voice in the industry as we follow Agathe Rousselle’s troubled car loving (as in literal lover) Alexia on a bizarre journey that leads her into the life of Vincent Lindon’s steroid taking fireman Vincent. 

If you’re one that is easily offended by subject matter or mortified by confronting violence Titane is a film you need too steer away from at all costs as Ducournau holds nothing back as we explore the bizarre world and mindset of Alexia as she comes to terms with who she is and what lays in her path that has been laid out before her after an horrific traffic accident at a young age saw her with a titanium plate being inserted into her skull and her wants and desires forever affected from there on out. 

Getting stuck straight into the action with an opening stanza that should weed out viewers well before the half way mark, Titane is an absolute shock to the system with barely a moments respite to be found and while it does die down with the sensory overload and shock-ability in its more slowly paced mid section, the film is never too far away from taboo subject matters that many films would dare not attempt to try and explore. 

For all of Ducournau’s work too ensure Titane is a film that will cause many topics of conversation and debate the film does suffer from some fairly poor narrative elements and plot developments and without going into full spoiler territory the whole idea of Alexia all of a sudden becoming Vincent’s long lost son he hasn’t seen in over a decade is a little too much too handle and there are a number of elements to Aleixa’s bizarre journey that don’t add up when subjected to scrutiny making Titane a very flawed feature that is still able to hold the mantle of 2021’s most divisive and controversial feature. 

Final Say – 

Suffering badly from a few too many half-explored ideas and unbelievable plot developments, Titane is still a visual feast of a film that never fails to keep you glued too the screen even if one’s mind fails to compute what is going on before them. 

3 broken noses out of 5