"Titane" -- Movie Review

 

The first weekend of The 59th New York Film Festival  concluded with the U.S. Premiere of the French science fiction/horror movie “Titane”.  

Synopsis

When a young woman goes on a killing spree, she hides from the police by posing as a man’s missing child -- but how long can she pull off this scam?

Story

When Alexia was a little girl, she was in a terrible automobile accident which resulted in surgeons implanting a titanium plate in her skull to protect her brain.  When she grew up, the surgical procedure would leave a highly sensitive and ugly mark on the side of her head, where hair would never grow.  Fortunately, though, she would become a woman who was otherwise physically healthy -- but what about her mental state?  Sadly, she was not quite so lucky in that regard.  Although she wound up being a successful erotic dancer with quite a loyal fanbase, she nevertheless had some issues that would play out throughout the rest of her life.  

As an adult, Alexia has evolved into a hostile sociopath with a disturbingly violent streak -- eventually, she turns to murder, the overwhelming majority of which are either unprovoked or unjustified.  After killing so many people, the police are finally on the case.  Once she is aware that she is being sought by the law, Alexia goes on the lam.  She drastically changes her appearance, cutting her hair, taping down her breasts and even going so far as to disfigure herself in order to look like someone other than the resemblance that has been drawn on the now widely-distributed wanted posters that have been seen around town and online.

 

Ultimately, the police bring her in -- but not as a murder suspect.  Instead, they believe her to be a missing person -- a child who was reported missing over a decade ago.  To the police, at least, Alexia appears to be a 17 year-old boy.  They contact Vincent, the man whom they believe is the father and he confirms that this person is his son, Adrien, so he takes Alexia home.  Despite Alexia’s resistance, Vincent tries his very best to get “Adrien” oriented and assimilated into a new life.  But when Alexia discovers that she is pregnant, will she be able to get rid of the baby or will she be forced to finally reveal her true identity to Vincent once and for all?  

Review

The movie gets its title“Titane” from the French word for titanium; titanium is a very strong, corrosion-resistant metal.  One might suggest that you may need to steel yourself before seeing this film (you saw that pun coming, didn’t you?).  Seriously though, despite the fact that this is an incredibly unique story, it does seem reminiscent of the original “Alien” motion picture, at least thematically.  In “Alien”, the theme was motherhood; “Titane” has a theme of fatherhood.  So, both are essentially about parenthood.  Also, both are similar in the sense that they are of the science fiction/horror genre and have violent content.         

“Titane” at times seems like some sort of a fever dream -- the only difference being that it is structured and the story’s resolution makes sense within the bizarre world that was created.  It is all at once ugly, horrifying, brutal, profane, sexy and beautiful.  If you think all of that can’t be successfully combined into a single movie, then that’s because you haven’t seen this one yet.  Keep in mind, however, that it’s not for everyone -- the necessary caveat here is that in addition to the brutal on-screen violence, there is quite a bit of nudity and sexuality.  That said, it’s such an unusual film, it’s definitely strongly recommended.      

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Julia Ducournau as well as stars Agathe Rousselle (Alexia/Adrien) and Vincent Lindon.  Ducournau said that she originally got the idea for this story while doing post-production for her previous film “Raw”.  Lindon told a story about how he thought Ducournau was kidding when she told him that she had a screenplay with him in mind.  Rousselle had to audition for the role; she found out about the opportunity through a message on Instagram.  She had four callbacks before finding out she got the part -- and it was not until then that he finally got to actually read the script.