Julia Ducournau is the director of the 2021 psychological-thriller drama Titane. The protagonist of the story sustains a head injury and has a metal plate surgically placed into her skull. She then develops a strange fascination to cars as a result. Be aware that this movie is not enjoyable to watch. I’ve put together my interpretation of the movie after it leaves you with many unanswered questions. I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts in the comments area. Spoilers follow as we break down the movie Titane’s plot and resolution.
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Titane| Plot Explained
I don’t take things literally, therefore let me express my opinion on Titane’s sci-fi designation. The sci-fi genre is referenced in the movie in a similar way to Take Shelter, although only metaphorically. Hence, none of the improbable events depicted in Titane are truly occurring. Let’s now go over the storyline.
What does it mean, Titane?
Titanium, a very durable metal used in machinery, is referred to as “titane” in French. Titanium is poisonous in a way that other inert metals like iron are not. And these characteristics sum up Alexia’s character in the film: she is a strong individual but lacks any human feelings like a machine, which has turned her into a serial killer. Titanium by David Guetta and Sia employs the metal in a similar metaphor: “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away!”
Alexia, what happened to her?
We need to conjecture about Alexia’s past in addition to the evident Titanium that was put to her skull after that terrible event. It is clear from that car ride that the father and daughter had a horrible, possibly abusive relationship. The history of sexual assault had already rendered Alexia icy and destructive long before the catastrophe. Along with mental damage, the event also caused physical injuries to her head.
What do cars in the movie stand for?
Alexia is drawn to cars because she has chosen a road of self-destruction, and it appears that cars are the source of trauma. The physical injury to her skull was caused by an automobile. Her father, the driver of the car, is to blame for her psychological harm. Like a moth pulled to a flame, being lured to motor vehicles is a metaphor for returning to her abusive father.
Alexia has developed into an exotic dancer at auto exhibitions years after the collision. She is still residing with her parents. Her mother is unaware of what has developed over time between Alexia and her father (or is in denial about it).
Why does she kill, Titane?
Because of her past, Alexia is emotionless and enraged, which drives her to kill. We see Alexia sporting a metal hairpin, which is her weapon of death. In the car, when the stalker attacks Alexia, she kills him with precision and explains that it’s not the first time she’s done it. On TV, news reports discuss other persons who were discovered deceased in like situations. Although it’s not visible on the screen, Alexa removes the body from the parking lot because otherwise the police would have followed the automobile directly back to her.
The next scenes show Alexia having a sexual encounter with a coworker. Keep in mind that Alexia is only drawn to the girl’s metal nipple and not to the girl herself. Soon after, she viciously murders her coworker and two other men at their home. After hitting Alexia against the wall, one woman runs away. This girl probably tells the police, even though it’s not depicted on screen, and that’s how they connect Alexia’s killings to her. She kills them, but why? At this point, Alexia has grown irrational and attacks those she perceives as threats to her. Why? We don’t know.
Alexia also imprisons her parents and burns down the house before killing them. Because the police are pursuing her and she is fed up with her current situation, she fractures her nose, chops off her hair, and goes to the police pretending to be Adrien, a missing child.
Titane| How did Alexia become pregnant from a car?
Yeah, it’s the question that has everyone wondering, “WTF?” It’s a metaphor to have sex with an automobile. The trauma’s origin is represented by the car. The most likely person to have caused Alexia to become pregnant is her father. She still resides with her parents, and in an incident that happened off-screen, he might have sexually assaulted her. When Alexia’s mother asks her to have her stomach examined by the father in that scene, she clutches his hands and begs him to go lower, but he walks away. This is a sign of an earlier, not visible-on-screen occurrence.
The alternative explanation is that Alexia experienced sexual trauma from someone from one of her motor performances.
If you look closely, engine oil has replaced all the fluids related to reproduction. The way Alexia sees it, anyway. She only sees motor oil, which is essential for every machine to function; she does not see blood or milk. This demonstrates how out of touch with her body and human being she is, and how robotic she feels.
How is a pregnancy feasible to conceal in such a way?
It’s critical to understand that the movie’s events don’t take place in real time. There are a tonne of things that happen off-screen that we never see. Although it appears that Alexia is pregnant more quickly than in the movie Old, what we see actually takes place over the course of 8 months. In the beginning, taping works better to help Alexia conceal her pregnancy and her gender. Later, it would have been difficult to conceal it or even go outside without a slack jacket. There were certainly enough people talking about Vincent behind his back that his chubby son is probably a female. Even though one of them makes an attempt to discuss it, Vincent doesn’t want to.
What happened to Adrien, Vincent’s son, and who is Vincent?
A guy named Vincent regrets the death of his son Adrien ten years ago. We can make assumptions about the past, even though the authorities gave up and closed the investigation due to a lack of proof. Either Adrien fled or was killed.
Two illustrations of Adrien particularly jumped out
the images of him dressed as a lady.
the image of a child on fire that Vincent witnesses during one of the firefighting operations.
Vincent and his wife may have mistakenly identified Adrien as gay or trans, and Vincent hated this. He might have taken actions to “man up” Adrien, which caused Adrien to flee. A more sinister interpretation is based on Vincent’s hallucination of a child on fire. Vincent may have murdered his son. And because of the guilt, he has been torturing himself by staying in the same house and keeping Adrien’s room unaltered. Perhaps for this reason, Vincent is unwilling to have a DNA test performed to determine whether the subject is in fact his son.
Vincent adds, “You’ll always be my son,” to Alexia. No matter who you are. Vincent may have harboured sorrow over killing his son, so when a person showed him pretending to be Adrien, he accepted it without hesitation. He only asks for another chance.
The ex-wife of Vincent doesn’t appear to think that Alexia, who is posing as Adrien, is really her son. She makes it abundantly apparent that she wants nothing to do with this individual. She discovers the imposter is a pregnant lady when she enters the room and sees Alexia. She only asks Alexia to look after Vincent at that particular time.
How Titane Ends is Described
Titane’s climax depicts Alexia giving birth to a child with titanium spines, with Vincent serving as the wet nurse. Alexia’s skin tears as she moves, exposing an inner Titanium lining. Her skull plate gives way due to the effort of the delivery, and she passes out. The movie ends with Vincent holding the infant and saying, “I’m here,” several times.
WTF is definitely the first thing that came to mind. also mine.
What do the images represent? In both her body and soul is titanium. She bleeds out and dies in a stranger’s bed because of her father’s journey to self-destruction. By the time it was all over, she had degenerated into a [metaphorically] hollow Titanium shell, unable to explain why she had been acting and killing the way she did. Yet she wasn’t killed off by herself. She was next to a stranger who was acting as her father.
A powerful infant is symbolised by the metaphorical baby with a titanium spine. Like its mother, the infant has experienced a lot. But it’s still here, vibrant and strong. When Adrien didn’t fit the mould of what Vincent considered to be normal, Vincent lost a son. He promises to love the stranger he takes in as his own forever and loses her but gains a grandson he will raise as his own in the process (if the law permits it).
The movie also tackles other themes like…
Recognising a stranger as family
Because Adrien didn’t meet his concept of normal, Vincent hated his own son. After ten years, Vincent stopped caring about his definitions and accepted a woman as his son. Alexia hated her parents but remained to live with them. Eventually, she found Vincent to be a father, and she even confesses her love for him. He continues to make out with her while Vincent moves away. This is terrible since her father has abused her for her whole life, leading her to feel that sex and love are interchangeable.
Being confined to one’s body
Vincent tries his hardest to stay healthy and able-bodied since he feels stuck in his ageing body. He has been using steroids to build himself up. Because of her mistreatment, Alexia is forced to act like a computer while locked inside a human body. She kills at will and has no need to be there. She finds some solace in the fact that she is a stranger’s son. There is plenty in the movie on toxic masculinity (the other firemen), the objectification of women (exotic dancers for a motor show), and other topics to fill a whole other article.
What did you think of Titane’s storyline and climax? What other themes did you notice in the movie? Please share your opinions in the comments.
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