Product Code Database
Titane (, ) is a 2021 body horror psychological drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The French-Belgian co-production stars Agathe Rousselle in her feature film debut as Alexia, a woman who, after being injured in a car crash as a child, has a titanium plate fitted into her head. In adulthood, Alexia becomes a murderous car model with an Mechanophilia, leading to a bizarre sexual encounter that sets off an increasingly outlandish series of events. Vincent Lindon, Garance Marillier and Laïs Salameh also star.
The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 13 July 2021, where Ducournau became the second female director to win the Palme d'Or, the festival's top award, as well as the first female filmmaker to win solo. It received critical acclaim and was selected as the French entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, but did not make the shortlist. At the 47th César Awards, it was nominated for four awards, including Best Director for Ducournau and Most Promising Actress for Rousselle. At the 75th British Academy Film Awards, Ducournau received a nomination for Best Director. At the 11th Magritte Awards, Titane received five nominations and won two awards, including Best Foreign Film.
Years later, Alexia, now an adult with a large scar on the side of her head, works as a showgirl at a Auto show. One night, after a show, a male fan follows Alexia in the showroom's parking lot, declares his love to her, and forcibly kisses her; she then brutally kills him using her large metal hair stick. As she returns to the showroom to shower, Alexia finds that the tuned Cadillac she modeled with earlier has turned on by itself. She enters it naked, has Object sexuality, and Orgasm.
It is revealed that Alexia is a serial killer who has murdered three other men and a woman in the past few months. She still lives with her parents, who seem unaware of her connection with the crimes and with whom she has a distant relationship.
Alexia attends a house party, where she starts to have sex with her coworker Justine. However, motor oil begins secreting from her vagina. She takes a pregnancy test, which returns a positive result, and tries to perform an abortion on the spot, using her hair stick, but fails. She comes out of the bathroom and murders Justine and two other men, but one woman manages to escape. Alexia returns home and tries to burn a bloodied blanket, which sets the house on fire. She locks her parents in their bedroom and leaves.
Now wanted for murder, Alexia alters her appearance to pretend to be Adrien Legrand, a young boy who had disappeared ten years before, at age seven, by cutting her hair, taping down her breasts and Pregnancy belly, and breaking her own nose. She then goes to the police claiming that she is Adrien, where his father, Vincent, a fire captain, accepts Alexia as his missing son and refuses to do a Genetic testing.
Vincent takes Alexia to the Fire station where he lives and works, and introduces her to his men. The firefighters are puzzled by the mute, androgynous, and apparently traumatized "Adrien", but they refrain from questioning the captain's behavior. Alexia becomes an apprentice at the station, under Vincent's supervision. As Vincent gives more responsibility to his "son" over the other experienced firefighters, one firefighter confronts Vincent about "Adrien's" identity. However, Vincent immediately shuts him down and tells him to never speak of his son.
Vincent tries to preserve his strength by injecting into his aging body, but he finds that he seems to be building an immunity to them. Alexia is increasingly disturbed by his possessiveness and considers escaping from the fire station. However, after Vincent experiences an arrhythmia after injecting a large dose of steroids, Alexia decides to stay with him.
Vincent's long-estranged ex-wife comes to see her "son", and ends up discovering a now-heavily pregnant Alexia without her body taped down. She nevertheless keeps the secret for herself, not wishing to interfere with her ex-husband's delusion, and begs Alexia to take care of him. Vincent eventually acknowledges his delusion, telling Alexia that "whoever you are, you are my son." When he inadvertently uncovers her breasts, he is shocked but continues caring for her.
At a party at the fire station, the firefighters urge "Adrien" to dance to the music. Alexia performs her showgirl choreography, confusing everyone. Vincent, disappointed, walks out of the crowd. After the party, Alexia has sex with a fire engine.
Alexia's body gradually breaks down, as the skin of her stomach tears to reveal new metal plates. When her pregnancy comes to term, Alexia reveals her real name to Vincent, briefly attempting to seduce him and then begging for his help. Vincent helps Alexia give birth, the titanium side of her skull splitting open on her final push, killing her. The newborn's body appears with patches of titanium on its body. Vincent says repeatedly to the baby, "I'm here."
Production was initially set to begin in April 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Principal photography eventually began in September 2020.
Altitude Film Distribution and Film4 jointly acquired distribution rights for the film in the UK and Ireland in June 2021, prior to the film's Cannes premiere. It was released in France by Diaphana Distribution on 14 July 2021, in Belgium by O'Brother Distribution on 28 July 2021, and in the United States by Neon on 1 October 2021.
Nicholas Barber from BBC gave the film four out of five stars and called it "the most shocking film of 2021." In his review for Variety, Peter Debruge called the film, "a cross between David Cronenberg's Crash and the uterine horrors of Takashi Miike's Gozu," and praised Ducournau for her handling of the film's themes. In The Observer, Mark Kermode also compared the film to Crash whilst praising its cinematography and emotional depth, and listed it as one of the best films of 2021. Clarisse Loughrey in The Independent praised Rousselle and Lindon's performances and Ducournau's direction. In NME, Lou Thomas gave the film five out of five stars and called it a "masterpiece". In a more negative review, Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, gave the film two out of five stars and compared it unfavorably to Ducournau's previous film, stating; "...everything is so laboured and crudely directed, without the style and sympathy of Raw." Jude Dry in IndieWire was also critical of the film, calling it a "deeply misogynist movie with a healthy side of transphobia".
The film ranks on Rotten Tomatoes' Best Horror Movies of 2021. In June 2025, IndieWire ranked the film at number 79 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)." In July 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 228.
At the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the film won the .Steve Pond, "‘Belfast’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap, September 18, 2021. On 12 October 2021, it was selected as the French entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, but did not make the shortlist. At the 47th César Awards, it was nominated for four awards, including Best Director for Ducournau and Most Promising Actress for Rousselle. At the 75th British Academy Film Awards, Ducournau received a nomination for Best Director. At the 11th Magritte Awards, Titane received five nominations and won two awards, including Best Foreign Film.
| Queer Palm | |||
| Best Director | Julia Ducournau | ||
| Best Actress | Agathe Rousselle | ||
| Best Actor | Vincent Lindon | ||
| Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Flore Masson, Olivier Afonso and Antoine Mancini | ||
| Best Foreign Language Film | Titane | ||
| Best Use of Visual Effects | |||
| Best Foreign Language Film | |||
| Best Foreign Language Film | Titane | ||
| Best Woman Director | Julia Ducournau | ||
| Most Daring Performance Award | Agatha Rouselle | ||
| The Robert R. "Bobby" McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Vincent Lindon | ||
| Best International Film | Titane | ||
| Best Director | Julia Ducournau | ||
| Best Actress in a Leading Role | Agathe Rousselle | ||
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Vincent Lindon | ||
| Best Film Editing | Jean-Christophe Bouzy | ||
| Best Film Not in the English Language | Titane | ||
| Best Actress | Agathe Rousselle | ||
| Best Film Not in the English Language | Titane | ||
| Foreign Language Film of the Year | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Myriem Akheddiou | ||
| Best Cinematography | Ruben Impens | ||
| Best Production Design | Laurie Colson and Lise Péault | ||
| Best Sound | Séverin Favriau, Fabrice Osinski, Stéphane Thiébaut | ||
| Most Promising Actress | Agathe Rousselle | ||
| Best Cinematography | Ruben Impens | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Martial Vallanchon | ||
| Best Actor in a Horror Movie | Vincent Lindon | ||
| Best Actress in a Horror Movie | Agathe Rousselle | ||
|
|
