Titane (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years.

Directed by Julia Ducournau. Starring Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, and Laïs Salameh.

Titane is a strange, unsettling crime/horror movie that is very difficult to describe the plot of. It follows a woman, Alexia, who had a steel plate put in her head after a near-fatal car accident as a child. Now she is pregnant and a serial killer, and then she changes her appearance to pass herself off as a missing boy ten years later returning to his family. I have no idea what it is about the French cinema culture, but I so frequently feel that French dramas fly over my head, that they're doing something but I can't grasp it at all, and that's certainly the case here. It's a very visceral movie, with several moments I had to actually cover my eyes because the level of violence was overwhelmingly unpleasant -- and I'm not particularly squeamish. There are certainly some striking visual choices and memorable moments, but I'm not sure any of them are things I want to remember. I didn't come away from this film with a net positive of things I liked about it in comparison to things I hated. This is probably a movie some folks will love, but definitely not me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Titane < Sunday in the Park with George

Titane < A Prairie Home Companion

Titane < Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Titane > Thr3e

Titane < Playtime

Titane > The Child

Titane > The Green Berets

Titane > The Wolfman

Titane < Saw

Titane < Bye Bye Birdie

Titane < Fist Fight

Titane < The Host (2013)

Final spot: #3170 out of 3482, or 9%.