Review of Titane (2021) by Unclewillard — 19 Oct 2021

I certainly enjoyed the film, but I'm just not finding it as horrific or outlandish as the reviews I'm reading and I'm stumped at why it got the palm at Cannes, but I often am. I can definitely feel the influence of both Noe and Carax, both far superiors directors, but it lacks their punch if what Ducournau is going for is something like Climax or Holy Motors. The car theme was lost on me, but I did like the humanization of Alexis. She goes from random killer to son/daughter by the end and learns what it means to love and be loved. Not sure if there's supposed to be a message about gender, but I don't really care to hear it anyway, and it certainly didn't resonate.

Seems like everyone is drooling over Rouselle's performance as it's her first and she carries the film, but Vincent Lindon's was more impactful for me. Rouselle was not bad by any means, but I related more to Lindon.

The ending was a dud for me as well. I read another review that said it was more like a string of music videos and I can see that. Too much left out to allow the audience to connect to the protagonist, but then again, could you even connect with a psychopath?

If you watch it because it got a palm, you probably won't like it, or just lie that you do. If you're intrigued by the genre, I'd recommend Holy Motors, Climax, or Irreversible. More shocking and better films.