NOTHING will quite prepare you for Titane and its intricate web of daddy issues. Director Julia Ducournau’s latest work is without a doubt the most French film you will watch this year. Titane starts its life as a dark, seductive, and absurdly outrageous fever dream, spends some time as a pure thriller, and then concludes on a shockingly wholesome note. Throw in some body horror, car love, and the meaning of family and you’ve got Titane. No matter how much you squirm, your eyes and ears will demand to stay open.
At the center of Titane’s madness is Alexia/Adrien (Agathe Rousselle), who at a young age caused her father (Bertrand Bonello) to crash the car while vying for his ever distant attention. This results in the installation of a metal plate in her head and the doctors advising her father to watch for any abnormalities. Hint hint. Without giving too much away, Alexia goes on a bit of a killing spree and winds up disguising herself as Adrien, the long missing son of fire chief Vincent Legrand (Vincent London). Agathe Rousselle gives a phenomenal performance throughout her character’s transformation from Alexia to Adrien. Similarly, Vincent London truly captures a broken father’s desperation.
Underneath Titane’s bizarre sensibilities is a strong undercurrent of people looking for family. However, not just a superficial family defined by blood relations, but a family where each member openly loves and supports the others’ honest selves. We watch as Alexia craves paternal love and acts out predictably, then experiences an avalanche of unrequited affection that simultaneously corrupts other “chosen” family members, and then settles with the family that embraces each other for who they actually are. A family where a child has to show her true self and gender to her father despite his expectations, and a father who has to come to terms with his aging masculinity. Simply acknowledging what a family member tells you and truly embracing and supporting the concept are two very different things, and sometimes life has a way of confronting you with realities you have been hopelessly trying to avoid.
While on Titane’s wild ride, a haunting soundtrack, dazzling cinematography, and stylish saturated colors will accompany you. Whether you are watching dancers on the hoods of cars at an auto show, Alexia dramatically marching towards her newfound lover while dripping with water, a man simply playing with a lighter, or an eruption of flames Titane does not disappoint visually.
One area the film does stumble in is how it handles the second half. As Titane (somewhat) pulls away from absurdities and thrills in favor of more tender moments, it also loses some of the edge and shock value that the first half successfully relies upon. In doing so Titane also loses a bit of itself until it comes roaring back in the conclusion. The film puts its more outrageous concepts on the back burner until it’s ready to deal with them again, and in doing so relinquishes some of its much earned momentum.
From the opening scene, Titane continuously doubles down on its own outrageous absurdity until it suddenly pulls back. You go from watching a thriller, to body horror, to something that has a lot to say about what it means to be family. Specifically, what it means to be family in action, not just by blood or oil. Titane somehow addresses gender fluidity, the role of parents to support and accept, the male ego slipping as bodies and testosterone age away, and the opportunity to choose a family not given to you by birth all while bombarding the screen with gore and squirm inducing violence. You find you cannot look away from these disturbing images partly because of how beautifully Titane presents them and partly because they all have something to say. Even though the film may retreat too far from its own deliriousness in the second half, it comes speeding back just in time for a finale that will have you guessing until its last push. Strap in because Titane is one hell of a ride.
