Titane Ending Explained

Titane is controversial and highly violent, but its final minutes offer a sensitive look at the life of two troubled characters who love each other.

Content warning: this article contains discussions of violence, depression, and abuse

Titane ends on a sensitive and caring note, different from the ultraviolent opening minutes of the movie, as all of its absurdities happen quite naturally and blend into a traditional narrative. Titane follows Alexia, who after committing a series of murders disguises herself as the son of a firefighter who has been missing for 10 years. The strong bond the two develop sends their self-destructive nature to slumber, but Alexia gets pregnant off a machine, and it's just a matter of time until the truth about her is unveiled.

The 2021 Palme d'Or winner is both a hard-to-look body horror film and an enthralling love story. It follows in the footsteps of the equally controversial David Cronenberg movie, Crash, by bringing machines and humans together as vessels of raw sexual energy, delivering unspoken words through the skin. Titane is the second feature of Julia Ducournau, who proved to be competent when it comes to balancing horror and drama with her disturbing debut, Raw.

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Even after discovering Alexia's true identity and pregnancy, Vincent doesn't turn her in and continues to love and protect her as part of his family. However, when Alexia lets her true self out at the fire station, a mix of shame and disappointment overwhelms Vincent, causing the two to go down a path of self-destruction once again: Vincent gets drunk and burns himself with fire, while Alexia engages in sexual activity with a fire truck, causing her body to break down completely.

With the baby on the way, Alexia rushes to Vincent to feel safe. In the beloved yet hard-to-recommend movie's disturbing final scene, Vincent helps Alexia with the baby despite the initial shock of seeing her body consumed by titanium. The baby lives, but Alexia succumbs to the metal plates, leaving Vincent with a half-machine, half-human child to fill in for both his missing son and Alexia's role in his life.

The circumstances that lead to Alexia and Vincent's relationship are based on brutality. They are troubled characters who lead their life through a path of self-destruction: Alexia vents the rage of her traumas in her sexual relationships with cars, while Vincent softens the pain of losing his son by injecting reckless dosages of steroids into his body. When the two meet, it feels like they're finally ready to let go of the violence they inflict against themselves, but it's only a matter of time until their bruises erupt once more.

Apart from Titane's violent content, which has prompted walk-outs, the movie's biggest controversy revolves around hints of incest between Alexia and Vincent's relationship, but what viewers might miss is that Vincent never actually believed Alexia was Adrien. The biggest dilemma of their relationship is that Alexia thinks Vincent only loves her because he projects Adrien onto her, while Vincent tries to avoid what he really feels about Alexia because he doesn't know how to express it. When he accidentally sees who she really is in the bathroom, the two are forced to prematurely deal with their feelings even though they haven't figured it out yet.

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In the final bed scene, parental and romantic love clash in an uncomfortable, yet special moment between the two. With her sophomore film, Julia Ducournau presents characters whose bodies are the vessels of their obsessions, hidden through layers of clothes but easily exposed whenever they give themselves to someone. Except they never thought themselves worthy of a sensitive relationship until finding each other, and not knowing how to love is just as dangerous as surrendering to loneliness. To make it worse, Alexia's violent impulses turn her into an actual machine, in contrast with Vincent, who desperately tries to escape from aging, which is the basis of the human condition.

In Titane, family is what you make of it. Alexia's years with her abusive father turn her into an untamed machine, while Vincent projects his son in Alexia, releasing all the insecurities he had as a harsh and abusive father. In the middle of all this, Alexia's creepy child is born: an infant covered with patches of titanium all over its body. The baby stands for Alexia's defeat in overcoming her dark past and Vincent's frustration in failing to protect his loved one again, but at the same time, the baby is also a symbol of hope for Vincent., who earns a second chance.

Moreover, Alexia's baby is a constant reminder that she is human, something that she tries to fight against throughout most of the movie. The titanium plate on her head gives her purpose, but machines can't have babies. In fact, humanity is technically designed to live and let live. Alexia's maternity challenges her to accept her true self, but the baby reveals titanium taking over Alexias's interiors entirely. In the end, what is her weakness passes on to the baby as his biggest strength: a body forged in titanium, but a cry as human as any other child.

Titane is a movie bonded by self-destruction and dissociation. Although romance, sex, and family are often regarded as sensitive topics of life, Julia Ducournau deconstructs these concepts as raw fundaments of humanity in a story where humanity itself has lost its meaning. The movie starts with Alexia rejecting every bit of humanity in her: she engages in sexual relationships with machines, murders her own parents, rejects any form of affection, and goes on a killing spree. However, Vincent comes into her life and makes her feel loved, and now the concept of love itself becomes twisted in their puzzling relationship.

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Titane finds beauty in horror and meaning in violence. Beyond a brutal, wicked exterior lies someone who craves love. Beyond a sturdy, muscular body lies a sensitive man too scared to contemplate his own demise. As hopeless as these people seem to be, they are just as humane as anyone, looking for the same things. Although highly violent and raw, Titane is nothing more than an exercise of empathy.

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Arthur is a Business Communication graduate, now studying Film in Brazil, the land of delayed releases. A huge fan of body horror and underground masterpieces, he is also crazy about the awards season and likes to make Oscar predictions throughout the year. He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro and hopes to find his place in the local art scene.