When she was a young girl, Alexia (Agathe Rousselle) was in an automobile accident and wound up with a metal plate in her head. She grows up to be a dancer at underground nightclubs where she undulates and gyrates around on top of cars. (It’s kind of like a cross between an auto show and a strip club.) One night after a show, a car comes and picks her up, and I don’t mean to pick her up, I mean it PICKS HER UP.
Let me put it to you this way. We’ve all seen movies where the lead actress goes in and out of a car. I think this is the first time in motion picture history where a car goes in and out of the lead actress.
Many filmmakers would make that the (ahem) climax of their movie. That’s just the first act. Director Julia (Raw) Ducournau is just getting the engine warmed up. Things get really twisted when Alexia learns she’s PREGNANT with the car’s baby. Then, it gets REALLY weird. Oh, and did I mention she’s a serial killer too?!?
If you can’t already tell, Titane is very much my shit. Because of the autoerotic (heh) aspects, comparisons to David Cronenberg’s Crash are inevitable (as well as his early films that focused on body horror), but there’s also a healthy dose of John Carpenter’s Christine in there for good measure as the shots of the car are done in a similarly creepy manner. However, Ducournau’s idiosyncratic vision, not to mention her knack for gory set pieces, help make this a truly original flick that can easily stand alongside the work of both Cronenberg and Carpenter.
Some may feel shortchanged when the film changes gears (sorry) once Alexia, who is wanted by the authorities for her various crimes, hides out and tries to lead a “normal” existence. One of the true surprises of the movie is that the more “normal” it tries to become, the weirder it gets. It’s here where Titane dovetails into a bizarre domestic drama, and a surprisingly moving one at that. It is ultimately about unconditional love and acceptance, no matter how misguided or ill-advised.
Bottom Line: Come for the car fucking scene (in which Rousselle DOES use her seatbelt, because, you know, safe sex and all), but stay for the family drama (which is just about as jaw dropping as the car fucking).
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