10 Hidden Meanings Behind Confusing Horror Movies
5. Titane
Both newcomers and fans of writer/director Julia Ducournau’s previous outing (2016’s remarkable Raw) were likely unprepared for - and left at least a little confounded by - 2021’s heavily symbolic and salacious Titane.
Why? Because it’s a relentlessly erratic and equivocal journey concerning a motor show dancer (Alexia) whose favourite hobby - being a serial killer - leads her to flee her home and adopt a new identity as the missing son of a lonely and desperate fire department captain, called Vincent.
Plus, Alexia crosses paths with Vincent after she commits parricide and gets impregnated by a car. Meanwhile, Vincent is addicted to injecting steroids so that he can retain his youthful and capable masculine physique. Oh, and all that happens before Alexia’s body is torn apart from giving birth to a human-titanium baby.
Packed with intense carnage, outrageous depictions of objectophilia, and insinuations of incest (among other shocking moments and musings), Titane is undoubtedly a mysterious and uncomfortable watching experience.
Yet, it’s also a characteristically risqué, fearless, and contemplative examination of unconditional love, gender fluidity, emotional isolation, and several taboo aspects of human nature. As such, it’s up to each viewer to determine how Titane resonates with them (which is surely what Ducournau intended, at least somewhat).