The daughter of two doctors who showed their little girl Psycho at the age of eight, filmmaker Julia Ducournau is unapologetically the product of her environment. After her last visit in 2016 with the visceral cannibal horror Raw in Critics’ Week, which caused several audience members to faint when it screened in Toronto, festivalgoers were left reeling by the film’s inspired infusion of blood and gore into the standard rites-of-passage story. Starring Garance Marillier— who made her screen acting debut in Ducournau’s creepy 2011 short Junior—it tells the story of a young veterinary student who develops a craving for human flesh, which leads to a great deal of self-reflection and a doozy of a twist.

Cannes is already bracing for Ducournau’s return—this time bumped up into Competition—with the mysterious Titane (French for Titanium), with Vincent Lindon and newcomer Agathe Rousselle. So far, all Ducournau is revealing...