In the Defense of Punks and Monsters: Julia Ducournau and Titane

Abstract

Abstract: In 2021, Fémis-educated, punk-looking director Julia Ducournau made history when she became the second woman to receive the Palme d'Or for her second film, Titane . A trembling Ducournau thanked the jury for "avoir laissé entrer les monstres." Titane , a cyberpunk/black comedy/fairy tale film, shakes the spectator out of the comfort of mainstream—cisgender, middle-class—culture and cinema and of predictable horror films. This article will first focus on understanding Alexia's character and show that her "monstrosity" is a reaction to the patriarchal order and normative gender roles against which she rebels. We will see how Ducournau stages a "sexual script" outside hetero- and homonormative limits and how she envisions free, fluid love before examining how, using a Christic subtext, albeit in a punk, transgressive manner, she proposes a truly inclusive, caring society.