20 Best Films Of 2021

20. Titane

Julia Ducournau followed up her acclaimed cannibal horror film Raw with one of the most bizarre yet slyly affecting releases of the entire year, and one which unexpectedly won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Titane centers around Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a serial killer who, following a brutal car accident in her youth, exhibits an attraction to cars which, without giving anything away, leads to a most unexpected outcome.

Titane is certainly a shocking and materially strange film, but Ducournau clearly has more on her mind than merely provoking: at its core this is a tale about family and acceptance that's deceptively moving in all the right ways.

Rousselle gives a fantastic, star-making performance in the lead role, while Ducournau cements herself as one of the boldest and most interesting filmmakers working today.