Leaving a movie theater isn’t difficult. There’s no one who will ask to see your ticket, lock the door before you’re out, or question it (at least, you’d hope not). There’s a strong implication behind it because unless it’s out of boredom, it’s the ultimate act of rejection. In the best of cases though, it confirms that the filmmaker accomplished their vision, even if you vehemently disagree with it. It confirms that they’ve made something so full of bizarro energy, off-putting imagery, disinterest in standard film structure, or a combination of these things, that it will soon have its sub-C grade on CinemaScore to wear as a badge of honor.

A walk-out type film if there ever was one is Julia Ducournau’s Titane, this year’s winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s highest award and her follow-up to the critically acclaimed Raw. The film is like watching a coming-of-age, sex-fueled drama spliced with the aftermath of a drugged-out rave fight. All while masterfully cycling between MTV-dance ascetics, relationship drama, dark comedy, car worship, and 80’s body horror, if that didn’t initially sound like enough.

The story follows a dancer named Alexia, played to near perfection by a relative newcomer named Agathe Rousselle. After a childhood accident, Alexia experiences a life of missed connections, sex, violence, and vying for attachment and purpose. Through it all, there’s simply nothing this film isn’t audacious enough to try to be. It’s as multi-purpose as the metal it takes its name from, and successfully so.

For everything it is, and despite it being best left to surprise, Titane is more horrific than scary. It’ll make you wince, only then to psych you out. It’ll showcase how evil its characters choose to be and then immediately contrast that with the beauty of what they can be. Rest assured, you don’t get to any of it without a ton of weirdness. Even the calm and beautiful moments are smushed together into a kaleidoscopic lens of sexuality and savagery. It’s so much of everything that at times it can be jarring to get a feel for its individual pieces. However, it’s all in service of how the full puzzle comes together.

There’s no hand-holding to understand things, and what’s unsaid just has to click into place over time or be accepted at face value. Either way, it’s all captivating and will make you feel like a captive in equal measure. Each new development brings unexpected anarchy against tropes and traditional scripting while carrying a terrifying sense of energy. Its surrealness and rapid-fire tonal shifts are inescapable but may leave you unable or unwilling to escape anyway. Titane‘s experience is cemented by an incredible cast, but in particular, it’s Vincent Lindon who burns brightest. Lindon is playing a firefighter named Vince, and the role suits him well.

The dynamic between Alexia and Vince is bold, shocking, and heartfelt in ways that most directors couldn’t even have nightmares of. Between the writing and their performances, this film take two people that you think you know, showcases the worst they can do and be judged by, and gives them earned chances to show layers. It’s one thing to ramp up characters to be better, but it’s a whole other thing to take deplorable ones and create valid reasons to root for them. This is where Titane solidifies a legacy that shock value alone couldn’t, not that its shocks don’t hold considerable weight.

All the while, the visuals bounce between nightclub vibes and the mundane, snaking black wires under car hoods and brilliant hues of fire. There is never a lack of color or striking imagery to back up its destructive core. From one-take shots that infuse you into the characters and environments, to quick cuts and rapid edits that are spastic and fleeting, it puts a spin on most every filmmaking trick to create something all its own. For each amazing thing to grab on to, there’s something right around the corner to bombard your senses tenfold. It is exhausting, but never in a way that feels at odds with the material or feels unintentional.

By the end shot, Titane cements its claim as a near-masterpiece of subversive, risk-taking cinema. It’s an inescapable, black hole of a claim to be sure though. Nobody would ever hold it against you for leaving. Regardless of whatever journey it takes you on, just like titanium being implanted in surgery, it will stay with you. Anything beyond that is unknowable.

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Titane

9.2

Score

9.2/10

Pros

• Incredible, and incredibly committed, performances.
• Excellent visual style.
• Its shocking moments feel grounded in what it has to say.
• The violent and sexual content never feels excessive for the story being told.

Cons

• Will make nearly every other movie seem tame in comparison.