Titane is an art house Transformers prequel. A psychopathic young woman named Alexia gets impregnated by a car. You'll be guessing until the end whether the offspring has two legs or four wheels. Along the way, Alexia racks up a large body count of victims and sexual partners (including a Cadillac and possibly a firetruck), disguises herself as a young man, becomes the ward of an aging firefighter addicted to steroids by impersonating his missing son, and along the way lactates motor oil (presumably 5W-30, given the child's father).
The movie leaves you with nagging questions about transmission. How exactly did the car impregnate Alexia? And, more importantly, given both the car's willingness and Alexia's complicity, should we assume this an automatic or a manual?
The critics can write all of the high-brow defenses of this film they want. A deep psychological analysis of the difficult relationship between a woman and her father, who caused the accident and seems not to love her. A movie about the complex interactions between humans and technology in the modern world. An exploration of gender fluidity and the difficulty of belonging as a female, hence the need to strap one's breasts down to pretend to be a man in order to survive.
Maybe it's those things, all of them and many more. Or maybe it's a ridiculous film about a woman who has sex with a Cadillac that gleefully bounces up and down on non-existent hydraulics while it ravages the all-too-willing heroine who strapped herself into the back bondage-style with the seatbelts. Then the Cadillac gets her pregnant, and where is the car when it's needed? Nowhere to be found. There's the key. It's a movie all about absentee fathers not supporting their offspring when they need a tune up.
Watch Raw instead, a much better film by the same director. Raw is a tightly constructed horror movie that leaves you thinking about it long after the credits roll. Titane does that too, but for all the wrong reasons.
The movie leaves you with nagging questions about transmission. How exactly did the car impregnate Alexia? And, more importantly, given both the car's willingness and Alexia's complicity, should we assume this an automatic or a manual?
The critics can write all of the high-brow defenses of this film they want. A deep psychological analysis of the difficult relationship between a woman and her father, who caused the accident and seems not to love her. A movie about the complex interactions between humans and technology in the modern world. An exploration of gender fluidity and the difficulty of belonging as a female, hence the need to strap one's breasts down to pretend to be a man in order to survive.
Maybe it's those things, all of them and many more. Or maybe it's a ridiculous film about a woman who has sex with a Cadillac that gleefully bounces up and down on non-existent hydraulics while it ravages the all-too-willing heroine who strapped herself into the back bondage-style with the seatbelts. Then the Cadillac gets her pregnant, and where is the car when it's needed? Nowhere to be found. There's the key. It's a movie all about absentee fathers not supporting their offspring when they need a tune up.
Watch Raw instead, a much better film by the same director. Raw is a tightly constructed horror movie that leaves you thinking about it long after the credits roll. Titane does that too, but for all the wrong reasons.