You are not prepared for “Titane.” Even if you’ve seen writer/director Julia Ducournau’s (“Mange”) previous film “Raw,” nothing can prepare you for the sheer bizarreness and absolute triumph of a film like this. It's shocking, yes, but there’s also a remarkably human story underneath it all, told with scorching visuals and performances that will live forever alongside the film’s gonzo legacy.
On a very basic level, the film is about a young woman, Alexia, living her life after being injured in a car accident as a young child and having a metal plate put in her head as a result. The story takes several intense twists from that point forward, some of which are deliberately uncomfortable and unbelievable, but, somehow, thanks to Ducournau’s assured and complete vision, it all feels real.
Agathe Rousselle plays Alexia and absolutely shatters all expectations. In her film debut role, Rousselle manages to maintain a complex balance between utter chaos and childlike innocence. Often going large swaths of the film without speaking, the pure physicality of performance means that, even if she isn’t literally speaking, you’re always aware of who she is, what she’s thinking, and how she’s feeling.
Vincent Lindon (“A Few Hours of Spring,” “The Measure of a Man”) plays opposite Rousselle as Vincent, a caring, massive man who switches between being a giant teddy bear of a man and also a creature of menace. The film plays deliberately with how Alexia perceives him and his performance matches that expertly. His entire story plays in tandem with Alexia’s, and the pair end up delivering one of the oddest, grossest, and yet most heartwarming tales of familial love in over a decade.
Yet, for as big as the heart at the center of “Titane” is, this is not a film for those with a faint heart of their own. Oftentimes bordering on disgusting, Ducournau’s film oozes with blood and oil, crackles with flame, and picks at your brain with a deliciously cruel sound design. It’s the kind of movie that you can feel just by watching it, with the sound effects and Jim Williams’s (“Raw,” “Possessor”) score almost overpowering the viewer at times. The sense of atmosphere and world are second to none, and every frame seems as though it's secreting some sort of viscera, leaking off the screen and threatening to swallow the audience whole.
It cannot be overstated how much this sense of atmosphere clashes with the familial heart at the center of the film, and it's because of that clash that “Titane” ends up being one of the most fascinating films of the decade. Describe these events, which border on body horror, to literally anyone and all but the most assured film fans would likely be turned off by the prospect. Yet, the skill with which they’re displayed makes everything hypnotizing to watch. You can’t look away, not just because you want to know what happens next, but because you’re so thoroughly bought into Alexia and Vincent’s tale thanks to the perfected atmosphere.
Visually, “Titane” is absolutely stunning from start to finish. Bold colors, specifically purples, awash the entire film, draping the some horrific elements in a cool, colorful style that makes the events seem almost pure and naughty by equal measures. Cinematographer Ruben Impens (“Beautiful Boy,” “The Broken Circle Breakdown”) has multiple dance sequences lit so minimally and yet exude such intoxicating senses. It can’t be overstated, from an auditory, visual, atmospherical standpoint, “Titane” is virtually flawless.
What we have is a film that could only be created by one, complete vision. It asks no favors, inviting you to either get on board or get the hell off. Ducournau’s masterpiece deserves your full attention and for you to go in with as little information as humanly possible to experience a borderline transcendent piece of lovely body horror, blending genre conventions with a special type of tale of family love that hasn’t been seen in a very long time. 5/5
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