Titane reviewed by Mark Kermode

[@Sleepy_Dandelion]

I couldn't stomach it, but this just proves how good the direction was. I can't really tell why, but the violence in this film disturbed me more than any other film I've ever seen even though "on paper" it was nothing special, but I'd say there's a rawness to it, no frills, that just made it so real, so close to me that I rally couldn't keep on watching.

[@bencarlson4300]

It was hard to watch, but oddly easier to watch than Raw simply because it felt more outside the boundaries of reality than Raw

[@NickHunter]

I found the scenes with her putting the leg of a stool through someone's face easier to watch than her breaking her own nose on the sink lol

[@brocoolhurst]

Fantastic film. Is there anything more satisfying than loving something, coming to KZbin and hearing Kermode echo your thoughts?

[@alexanderulv3886]

Yes, to me when Chris Stuckmann mirrors my thoughts lol. Very unexpected movie, can’t stop thinking about it!

[@MaximTendu]

sex with a dune buggy comes to mind

[@kz.irudimen]

@@alexanderulv3886 yikes

[@huzistiglitz5122]

My fav film of the year. It made me feel a whole range of emotions. Squirmish, made me look away, made me teared up, made me just loving it.

[@Onmysheet]

I've been pronouncing this film as Tie-Tain.

[@MaximTendu]

oh là là.

[@alex-oy9eo]

it's tea tan

[@connorveach5986]

Close enough

[@RYNO2511]

Been waiting to hear Kermode's thoughts on this for a while now, what a film. Can't remember the last time I felt so challenged and so rewarded by a film.

[@downsjmmyjones101]

TRUE! I was piecing things together the whole time. "Oh, it's about trauma. Oh it's about gender. Oh it's about family. Oh it's about love."

[@darnbricks]

Titane was the first movie I went to see in a movie theatre after the first lockdown, so it had been twenty months or something - and it was quite the experience indeed. There was only one other person in the entire cinema room, a pretty girl sitting two rows in front of me, and afterwards we couldn't find our way out of the shopping center that surrounded the theatre, which had closed off all of the exits in the meantime. We had to go back and ask the attendant for directions; apparently, you had to push a buzzer in a narrow corridor to leave the building. The name of the place? Cinéma Aventure. Seems appropriate.

[@RodrigoMenezesss]

Easily the best film of the year

[@tonyzuco6144]

😱 It's one of the worst movies ever made.

[@MaaDFoXX]

Loving someone for 'who you want them to be' isn't unconditional, that's very much conditional.

[@johncharlton199]

Indeed

[@natural]

The scene where she kills her gf and then realizes there are a lot of other ppl in the house reminded me of Mulholland Drive scene of the hired killer

[@charliepanayiotou4305]

Absolutely baffling time of year for this to come out, really should have come out earlier this autumn. Glad it's finally here though.

[@Spaceman2921]

It came out months ago everywhere else on Earth. We're just getting it late for some reason. That's fine. It's a pretty christmasy movie if you think about it.

[@natesmart9959]

@@Spaceman2921 exactly I saw this months ago at an AMC in Tennessee

[@Spaceman2921]

@@natesmart9959 I saw it months ago when I pirated it. If it's arbitrarily decided that I'm not allowed to see it because I'm in the wrong country then I feel pretty justified.

[@thunder_heads]

It is the best transmasculine film I have ever seen. The shaving scene and the scene where Vincent tells Alexsia "I'll accept you no matter what" as a trans man made me cry because I never got that and a lot of other men in my situation never got that from a dad

[@michaeldwatkins_]

I saw this as part of this year's LFF, and have been waiting for Kermode's thoughts ever since. The quotes on the trailer and the poster do far too much to over-egg the severity of the film - which, I guess, is kind of what trailers do. I was sitting there, watching what is a really original film, of that I can be confident, but feeling pretty disconnected from it, and largely uninterested by it. It was promised as so much, and when the substance (for me, personally) didn't match how brash, provocative, and gnarly it was purported to be, I found myself hoping I'd find something of a deeper meaning to it. And again, unfortunately, I came up short. It's visually striking and, as I said before, original, but for me, I really don't see or get the hype with this one.

[@joshhutchinson2513]

“Titane is to Raw what Trainspotting is to Shallow Grave” - interesting that I was unable to finish Raw and Trainspotting, but absolutely loved the other two. Blimey.

[@gehinkun]

Loved this movie, it really felt like it gave me a real understanding of queer/nongenderconforming people and gave me so much to think about in relation to gender performativity.

[@CUTSUK]

Loved this film. Surprised it got panned by some. Perfect review and nailed it once again.

[@dmachman5296]

Going to see this tonight when I pick up some tickets for a different viewing. Trying not to think too much about preconceptions like ‘art house’ and subtitles in a cinema will be a first for me. But I particularly enjoy a film that leaves it mark on you and messes with your concepts and give you a good hard kick in the comfort zone. A film made like this should by its very nature challenge your beliefs and your views and open your eyes just that little bit wider than is comfortable. It should be like looking directly into the director’s brain and seeing their thoughts squirming around in the darkness. The trick is not to blink or look away. Will do a post post. 👍🏼

[@arnemyggen]

Mark deserves as much recognition as does the movie - amazing review

[@rbdriftin]

I love this film so much.

[@kickycrowbar]

Just finished watching it so looking online for other thoughts, I thought it was a solid 7/10 film well worth a watch I guess I'm a simple guy after reading these comments from aspiring film critics haha

[@alexanderulv3886]

If you like this one, I suggest you watch Raw by the same director. It has the same wow effect as this one for sure. Also 8mm is a great watch, reminded me a bit of this one, but with Nicholas Cage.

[@andrewklang809]

A very fun film, and I'm not into body horror or even horror in general. But... SPOILER for the movie I still don't understand why she killed those people in the house. The guy that chased her to her car, I get. But the other woman, and the 2-3 others there, I was waiting for an explanation. Didn't get one. She just kills them, impulsively, because. Of course, she gets impregnated by a car and carries a titanium cyborg baby to term, so I'm not hung up on realism. Still, it's a huge thing that happens that leads to the second part of the movie, and it never seems motivated.

[@GA-1st]

I found "Raw" very intriguing. This sounds somewhat reminiscent of Zulawski's "Possession" (1981). I'll have to catch it on video or streaming.

[@postmodernrecycler]

For as much as Mr. Kermode invokes 'The Devils', he always does so in glory. Here is no exception. It has been a few years since I felt this viscerally about a film--not even 'Raw'.

[@navigatingmadness180]

Unbelievable film. A real shame it didn't get an academy nomination. Julia Ducournau is fast becoming one of the most exciting and unique filmmakers working

[@kashoot4782]

The nominations haven’t happened yet have they? I know it failed to get shortlisted for best international feature, but it could definitely get nominated for director

[@xyrildanmanuel783]

at the first half, when i was being shown what the lead character is capable of, i was thinking "oh this is probably going to be like no country for old men where they established from the start this psychopathic serial killer and how dangerous they are". i kinda got the same vibes that it'll be an unpredictable killing spree movie. turns out i was half right. it wasn't a killing spree movie, but it was in the end, unpredictable. i thought i was looking ahead of myself and predicting this movie's direction but nope

[@olieoliver6088]

I loved it ,not seen a film which has stayed with me for ages ..highly recommend

[@oxman5571]

It's on my Top Five for the year.

[@andreacinefilo]

So disappointing that this one wasn't included in the Oscars shortlist for Best international film. Jane Campion is currently the frontrunner for best director, but I was rooting for Julia Ducournau. This movie was bold, original, thematically ambitious, unpredictable and so moving it made me cry at the end.

[@griseldadominguez8734]

Me too!! At the beginning I thought it was one kind of movie, but as it went on... I loved it, sorry, English is not my language and I can't explain how much I liked this story

[@wb8905]

Campion isn’t a bad choice though. I’d take her over the other predicted nominees.

[@charliepanayiotou4305]

No chance the Academy was ever going to be into this, France should have submitted Petite Maman or Happening instead

[@andreacinefilo]

@@charliepanayiotou4305 They included Lamb, which I still haven't seen but, from what I know, it's also a bit out there.

[@marcietownsend3635]

"Titane" is one of the most intriguing and thought provoking films I have ever seen. I continue to think about it and tease out meanings.

[@jerrycornelius3466]

Post-feminist LGBQT plus psycho film-noir and a Lynchian meditation on sexuality and love Stunning, confounding and amazing. You will be stunned or apalled- there is no middle ground

[@mistershabba]

I was stunned and appalled - The scene in the house when the italian pop song started playing was off the CHAIN

[@reportmelolz]

Anyone notice how there’s never any ads on this channel? Only one I’m subbed to that’s like this. Nice.

[@jeffterranova]

Warning: SPOILERS Great review with almost no spoilers. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I guess I slept on Raw, but I will definitely check it out. What are everyone's opinion or take on the baby... do you feel that her father impregnated her? I mean, they never interacted and effortlessly not acknowledged one another, even when they were in the same room. It would support how he met his demise... thoughts?

[@csn5605]

I know I'm 8 months late to this but I've only just watched the movie a few days ago. I don't think this is one of those movies where what we see is just a metaphor and not actually what happened, I could be wrong but that's my initial take on it. I believe she was actually impregnated by the car, not her father. I've seen some people suggest that her father sexually abused her as a kid but I never got that impression at all. I believe her trauma comes more from the lack of parental love, and not knowing how to deal with receiving love or attention of any kind. Her father abusing her would twist her trauma into something else entirely. Again I could be wrong, but maybe all of it's true? Maybe none of it is? I like it being left up to our interpretation

[@JONESANDDUDDING]

Saw a preview of this back in November and stumbled out of the theatre in a state of true shock and awe. It's cinema at it's most explorative and exciting. Amazing.

[@Destiny93134]

The lead actress was so good.she scared the hell out of me.its ashame the rest of the film doesnt match her performance.the first fourty minutes was brutal and intense then after that a bit of a bore.

[@SuperHedgehog910]

I honestly cannot remember the last time I was utterly floored watching a film. I remember when the credits rolled, I was stunned for about 10 minutes just wrapping my head around this masterpiece. EVERYONE: WATCH TITANE.

[@OldBluesChapterandVerse]

This is the first review that makes me want to see it.

[@UncleErnie71]

Brilliant review. I can't wait for more Ducournau films.

[@themcmexchange2938]

She is fearless

[@SpideySensei72]

Gives an entirely new meaning to "car sex", I'll say that for it.

[@carljcreighton]

that felt more spoilery than usual

[@SirSmilingPhantom]

I think so too but it definitely would hook a more casual movie goer to here that plot detail. Possibly a very smart bit of publicity from Kermode to try and boost the number of people that see it.

[@usedfuzzbox]

Desperate to see this as Raw was fantastic......

[@Gary.North.ElectroBrain586.]

Best movie of 2021

[@greatpoochini1]

I thought Raw was excellent. Very enjoyable review and a good 'sell' for the film.

[@65g4]

Is Mark back at home doing reviews now not in studio anymore. God i feel bad for you guys over in the u.k

[@andrewkawam2603]

I thought 'Titane' was absolutely extraordinary, better than 'Raw' in my opinion (though I still thought 'Raw' was interesting). I would describe it as being like a weird fiction LGBTQ/feminist fever dream from the minds of Angela Carter, Candas Jane Dorsey, Suzy McKee Charnas, Izumi Suzuki, Rachel Ingalls, and Hiromi Goto.

[@sebastianx13]

Great description. Totally agree

[@sebastianx13]

…transgressive and subversive interpretations of Ancient Greek mythology

[@andymoody8363]

Just seen Titane and I found it very uncomfortable at times but what a film and what a teriffic review from la Kermode!

[@jovan9989]

i was expecting that the Little car baby in the end, was disappointed.

[@diluteduk]

I wouldn't have believed that she got adopted by the fireman as his son if I hadn't seen a documentary called The Imposter. And then you realise that's the least weird thing in this movie. I think I enjoyed it, but it made me think about it a lot which is always a sign to me that a film has been made really well.

[@bigtony1434]

Sus impostor???!

[@warrenphilbert6856]

This film will take you by surprise! Cheers! 👍❤️

[@AgatheD]

Love this ! It’s definitely my favourite Ducournau film and Agathe Rouselle is phenomenal 🔥

[@notimportant3686]

it was ok... don't go in expecting more than you should

[@cognitiveharmony2950]

I love how you talk film. We need you

[@leoalvarez1543]

This film is fantastic!!

[@dejjibd424]

Yet another movie I need to see.

[@NitramNetwork]

You know how Michael Bay shot the Transformers films with a pornographic sensibility? Well this is an extreme version of that except it's not trying to sell you toys

[@pardeepbhakar4961]

I have seen this and enjoyed it very much. It was well acted and bizarre.

[@Claidheambmor]

Need to watch this one

[@ktt1977]

I care what wins the Palme instead the Oscar. Oscar winners are safe bets for middle America.

[@stephengibbons2260]

Julia Ducournau's follow-up to Raw (a body horror film that I have huge affection for) is another original disturbing triumph for the French filmmaker. It's like if Cronenberg, Hitchcock & Carpenter had crazy wild sex, & the result ended up being a very oily baby.

[@kosemekars]

It's not a bad film, but it's definitely a "critic film". Problem is it's getting lost in the metatextuality and the obsessive need to score thematic points. Is it about sex? About fatherhood? About gender? About technology? About France? Pick one (or more!). It feels more like an writing exercise than a film. Very nice body horror visuals though.

[@maybebabyny]

I missed this apparently as I thought it was superficial and silly with a laugh out loud ending. I felt the same critic baiting grift with Crash. Maybe I have a disconnect with boning cars.

[@oxman5571]

Perhaps one day you might write something you thought of rather than something you copied and pasted.

[@maybebabyny]

@@oxman5571 thanks for the idiotic compliment that you feel what I wrote must be plagerized.

[@oxman5571]

@@maybebabyny can't even spell "plagiarized" correctly, so I was probably right about his tendency to copy and paste other people's thoughts. He loses again. *puts Maybe to bed with a fresh diaper and a bottle of his daddy's milk.*

[@maybebabyny]

@@oxman5571 spell corrections from finger typing is the best you have? Way to ignore the reply as your feeble mind cannot grasp the challenge.

[@oxman5571]

@@maybebabyny needs a pacifier and some warm milk before he's put back to beddie-bye. He loses again.

[@shuaigege12345]

So I Saw the Devil was a bad film marred by it’s brutality but this one’s a masterpiece? Also u explain the themes and seem to think explaining themes explains why the movie is good. It doesnt. All movies have themes. So what? You do this every time.

[@bluehunterboy]

its my favourite film of 2021

[@megamoviez]

One of my top 5 of the year

[@andrewkawam2603]

Same here. Up there IMO with 'Dune: Part One', 'The Green Knight', 'Nine Days', and 'Lamb'.

[@megamoviez]

@@andrewkawam2603 Nine Days was a 2020 film for me because I saw it at AFI Fest 2020. Amazing film though. The rest are great too.

[@megamoviez]

@@andrewkawam2603 For me it’s alongside Licorice Pizza, C’mon C’mon, Spencer, and Dune: Part One

[@JosephPage]

Here's the 32,000 dollar question though: sure, this is a film that is "talking about gender, the body, love, fatherhood" - but what is it actually *saying* about those things? I came out of the film with a friend of mine, and she thought the movie was a blast purely on an aesthetic level, and I came out of the film extremely concerned at how the film seemed to be implying that trans people cannot and should not escape their biological "reality", and that father figures are essential for emotional stability, both of which horrified me. Maybe I'm just an over-sensitive leftie, but I'd really like films to be deconstructed and confronted on the basis of the ideology they depict, rather than "it talks about x and is therefore good" or the extremely irritating "it gets people talking and is therefore good"

[@RYNO2511]

Interesting take, I didn't really see it as her needing a father figure though, more like 2 lost souls finding each other and finding genuine love and humanity through their bond. There's a lot more to it than that but that was just my take away. I personally don't really think the film is "trying to say" much, as much as it is just a sensory and emotional experience that one can relate to on an innately humanistic level.

[@Theo-bb6pn]

Besides your point about trans limitations, which I disagree with you on, I most blatantly don’t think the movie is saying fathers are “needed for emotional stability”. She murders *before* she kills her first father, and tries to kill her second when he has made it most clear that he will protect her. She then proceeds to try and kiss her new father figure, hardly an emotionally stable reaction to the quite literally undying care he attempts to show for her. Just on your trans point - Alexia didn’t show any Gender Dysphoria as far as I could see, she even tries on a dress in the kid’s home, so she’s not a trans person nor is she trying to be one. She doesn’t actively renounce womanhood at any point in the movie, she is just able to inhabit a man’s world because of how they perceive her, and how she begins to perceive herself. There’s 2 dance scenes (both the purple bar sequence and the “she’s not there” home scene) where she flicks between her “feminine” dance style and a more masculine moshing style multiple times. Also would be hard for the movie to dissect the limitations of being trans when there’s no look at hospitals and surgery / hormone therapy

[@sambkingmusic]

It was definitely a cisgender take on a transgender narrative, but I'm not sure it was insisting on either of those things. I'm not sure the protagonist needed a father per-se (or perhaps only through particular circumstance because her previous father had failed), and I doubt the message was that this should be a universal experience.

[@RYNO2511]

@@sambkingmusic why is it specifically a transgender narrative though? I don't think that's the focus at all, sure there is an element of gender fluidity but it's not the centre of the narrative

[@Thomas15]

Is that the ideology of the film though, or the ideology you brought to it? There’s no reason to believe that Alexia is trans; she adopted a new identity for different reasons. Aside from using gender as a means of escape, why would this film have any implications for trans people?

[@bmmcloughlin]

Terrific review of a terrific film =)😀

[@rossleeson8626]

I must’ve missed something with this film because by the end I was just like . . . Why? It was a joy to watch yeah but what was it about? Pretentious films are fine this film was kind of lacking self awareness. The fathers character was so good but still . . . Why?

[@TxxT33]

Oh wow this is a surprise

[@horganjames]

It’s beautifully made, but really quite a silly movie.

[@108noonoo]

I hated this film. I love art house films and films that go on the edge cinema. But this film for me was boring and very unfocused.

[@krumpoboing1404]

One of the most exciting films I've seen since Fury Road. Also, weirdly heart-warming, and with humour reminiscent of Joker

[@misssutherby1027]

Superb!

[@jamesharris5707]

I love extreme cinema and horror, and I thought this was a profoundly boring and confused film

[@----t----1234]

I thought this film was a mess

[@siriusvenus8708]

The art involved in this review is the review itself and not the film---which I could not tolerate for more than a few minutes scrolling ahead all the violence and sex stuff was too much. I think the subject matter you elaborate so eloquently on could have been done more tastefully in the film itself. I thought it was trashy and rude, the film I mean. It was a more viscerally-oriented slimy sort of sexual movie with violence interlaced. Creepy and disgusting. You comment makes it seem like an art work on a higher plane so thank you for your artful depiction which does make me think on themes without all the gory sexualized visuals that truly are unnecessary. I think you give the film too much credit for underlying meaning.

[@uiscepreston]

Sorry that Mark missed that the film is also about redemption via making the ultimate hybrid vehicle.

[@ravidoubleday2199]

average movie. Overhyped. Inferior to Raw in every way

[@guest_informant]

A car crash of a film :-)

[@Tom-rg2ex]

The movie is French, so before watching this review I'm gonna guess that Mark loves it.

[@KevTheImpaler]

Watched it. On the + side: nudity. On the - side: it is really, really unpleasant. It is like David Cronenberg. The bits which are not actively repellent are boring.

[@samtheking25]

I hated it

[@waynedevonald9335]

Absolute rubbish! One of the worst films I have ever seen!x

[@mrcbi460]

You haven't watch many movies then

[@waynedevonald9335]

@mrcbi460 I watch at least 1 Movie or a TV series episode a day!x

[@mrcbi460]

@@waynedevonald9335 Good for you my man!x

[@GoldenGyroBalls]

Better than Raw in every conceivable way. Long live the female flesh.

[@BRD529]

Maybe the worst film I've seen all year. I will never understand the love.

[@robertpetre9378]

Car sexual Dairy Car

[@Jack-dk7uu]

Utterly vile film, empty provocation without merit

[@sambkingmusic]

what a moronic take.

[@blackcoffeeinbed]

A nasty, vicious, ugly little flick that is enthralled with its own performative transgressiveness - you know, one of those films that yells “Look at me! Look how edgy I am!” without saying a damn thing. Trash and cynical not in the John Waters so bad it’s good kind of way.

[@Onmysheet]

I thought Raw already did that.

[@thai2go]

Titane is ridiculous.

[@ratbert69uk]

It was nonsense.

[@mrcbi460]

Just like s*x

[@pablobratcat]

Kinda sounds a bit transphobic.

[@kamaal_i]

It's not