- Directed by Julia Ducournau
- Written by Julia Ducournau, Jacques Akchoti, Simonetta Greggio
- Stars Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rouselle, Garance Marillier
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 48 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_w2W5G9OM
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was one very strange movie. It was entertaining though, and while we didn’t always understand why the characters were doing what they were doing, we could follow the plot. The weird plot. Everything about it was good, and we would recommend it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We get close ups of dirty-looking machines as the credits roll. We soon see that it’s just an artsy look at the engine of a car being driven by a father with an annoying daughter in the back seat. She takes off her seat belt, the father grabs for her, the car crashes. We cut to a hospital, where they put a titanium plate in the girl’s skull. She is released, and in the parking lot, she gives the family car a kiss and big hug.
Years pass, and Alexia is an adult now; she’s still got a scar, but it fits right in with her punk look. She’s at the most pornographic car show ever; it even has bouncers. We linger on one dancer, Alexia, who really likes cars; she licks it all over and rolls on it for five minutes. Afterward, in the shower, Alexia gets her hair caught in another dancer’s nipple ring, which is really awkward.
She’s even got fans who want autographs– or maybe he’s more of a stalker. She stabs the man in the ear with a knitting needle, and he dies painfully. She puts his body in the back seat of her car and goes home, where we see she really does have some kind of automobile fetish; she masturbates with the car.
In the morning, there’s a news report about Adrien, a little boy who went missing ten years ago; they are finally closing the case. There’s also a number of bodies that have been found, four so far this year– it could be a serial killer. Alexia still lives at home, and her father is a doctor.
We cut to Alexia licking and biting another woman, but she gets carried away and the other woman gets angry. Alexia throws up and then takes a pregnancy test. She tries to give herself an abortion using the knitting needle, which looks really painful. She’s not bleeding; it’s all black up there, like motor oil or something. Then she stabs her girlfriend to death with the same knitting needle. When the woman’s roommate comes downstairs, she kills him with the fireplace poker and a stool. The roommate’s girlfriend sees this, and Alexia learns there are a lot of people in this house!
She goes home and sets her parents’ house on fire, after locking them in the bedroom.
She gets a ride to the train station, where she sees her face on a digital “Wanted” poster. She also sees posters for the ten-year-old case of Adrien, who’s been computer-aged to show what he’d look like right now, and he sorta resembles Alexia. Alexia goes into the restroom and cuts off her hair and wraps tight bandages around the bumpy parts of her torso. She then breaks her own nose to make herself look different.
We cut to the police station, where the detective has called in Vincent, Adrien’s father, to identify his lost son, who appears to have been received. Yes, it’s Alexia, pretending to be Adrien. Vincent says yes, that’s his lost son. “Adrien” doesn’t speak, presumably from the trauma of being kidnapped for all these years.
Vincent takes his “son” home to meet Rayane. She undresses in her room and narrowly avoids being caught with her shirt off. Vincent then goes into the next room and works out; he’s very well built for an old guy, and we see him injecting something, probably steroids. He then gets angry when he can’t do enough pull-ups. He’s got some issues of his own.
In the morning, Vincent puts a brace on Adrien’s nose and trims his hair to look more natural. He gives Adrien a job at his fire station– he’s the captain. Vincent does get annoyed when Adrien won’t speak. At home later, Vincent “forces” Adrien to dance with him, resulting in a fight. Vincent, however, knows she has the knitting needle and tells her to fight like a man.
Later, Vincent gives himself an extra dose of steroids with a lot of wine and passes out. Alexia/Adrien ses him there and considers killing him in his sleep, but doesn’t. Alexia’s pregnancy is showing more and more. She decides to stay and embrace the role of the missing son, and even starts helping on the fireman’s EMT calls, “he” even gives CPR to one old woman and saves her life.
Rayane, one of the firemen, sees the wanted poster for Alexia on his phone, and he takes a gooooood look at Adrien. Later, all the firemen dance strangely, letting off steam, and Alexia watches them. Rayane tries talking to Vincent later, but he doesn’t want to hear it – he tells him to never talk about his son.
Vincent calls Adrien’s mother for a visit, and she tries to be friendly. Meanwhile, Alexia has developed some kind of abscess in her stomach, and it itches terribly. She continues to bleed black stuff. Her mother catches her naked and immediately catches on to what’s going on. She doesn’t care, she just doesn’t want Vincent to get hurt. “He needs you.”
Vincent asks for Adrien’s help injecting the steroids, and then Vincent shaves Adrien, who clearly doesn’t need it. Rayane won’t let up about Adrien, so Vincent hands him a propane bottle in the middle of a forest fire. BOOOM! Problem solved.
Vincent straight up says, “I don’t care who you are, you’re my son,” so it’s clear that even he knows something is up. She drops her towel, and he still doesn’t care. Later, Adrien does a sexy dance for all the firemen to watch. They… aren’t sure what to think. Vincent walks in and sees it too; he walks right back outside, in denial.
Later, Alexia has sex with a firetruck. Vincent sets himself on fire in his room, just a little bit. Meanwhile, Alexia’s stomach bursts open, showing metal inside. She comes into Vincent’s bedroom, and they kiss. That’s too much for Vincent, who pulls down the sheets and sees just how pregnant “Adrien” is. He calms down and comes back to the room, helping her to give birth. She pushes, and he helps with his EMT training.
The baby comes out, crying, and he suddenly knows Alexia’s name. Alexia, on the other hand, stops breathing and dies. Vincent picks up the crying baby and we see that it’s partially made of metal.
Commentary
The moral of the story seems to be “Don’t have sex with vehicles,” but I could have maybe misinterpreted the meaning.
This is a very weird movie. It wasn’t always clear what was going on, but it was always interesting. The weirdness just piles on top of itself, and it really works well. Oddly enough, I kept being reminded of “Tetsuo: Iron Man” (1989). It’s got a similar vibe, although this one is a lot more realistic.
It looks good; it’s well filmed. Most of the time, the plot made sense. It’s very disturbing, and yet it’s also really involving.