Cannes-winner a sensual assault

sense of humour and taste for human brains, chicken and chocolate, in that order.

And that Brock and his E.T. lodger maintain an odd-couple relationship, while keeping the streets of San Francisco clear of muggers and worse.

Harrelson’s life. I was happy – tiny spoiler – the last scenes of

at least hint we perhaps haven’t seen the last of Harris in this series.

Meanwhile, Michelle Williams continues to gamely make something out of nothing as Anne, Brock’s ex-fiancee.

The greatest strength of the 2018 film by farwas Tom Hardy as Brock/Venom. Serkis plays on that relationship, sets up amirror in Harrelson/Carnage – also to great comic effect – and, like the actor’s director he is, gets out of the way and lets his stars have a laughwith their characters. The results are loose, funny, and never outstay theirwelcome. is also the first Marvelmovie of the current series to have you out of the theatre in under 100 minutes. I reckon that’s worth a star at least.

Titane (R18, 108 mins) Directed by Julia Ducournau Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★ 1⁄

2 In French with English subtitles

At oncea visceral body horror that David Cronenberg would be proud of and a thriller that echoes the events depicted in one of the best documentaries of the past decade, this is a stunning, absorbing assault on the senses, that is challenging and richly rewarding.

Building on the provocative, evocative, female-led storytelling that made Julia Ducournau’s 2016 feature debut such a striking slice of contemporary horror,

offers a twisty-turny, genre and gender-bending narrative that isn’t for the faint-hearted, or easily offended, but is most certainly not a movie youwill easily forget.

For the second time in a row, the Cannes jury have been absolutely on themoneywith their Palme d’Or choice (the last one was a little Korean movie called

At its heart, is the story of Alexia (Agathe Rousselle). Obsessedwith cars from a young age, even a horrific accident at age 7 fails to deter her love for all things automotive.

Left with a metal plate in her head and proudly displaying a viscous-looking scar, Alexia indulges in increasingly hedonistic and dangerous behaviour as she enters adulthood.

For her, declarations of love are metwith disdain and an unwanted approach is dispatched with a chopstick/hairpin to the brain. We subsequently learn he’s not the first, either.

Amoment of vulnerability suggests she might be able tomake a lasting connection, but Alexia’s obsessions get the better of her, and it ends in disaster, a dark moment of the soul involving her increasingly distended belly and a resulting rage that leaves an apartment strewnwith bodies and blood.

A tumultuous night concludes with Alexia trying to destroy all trace of her past, fleeing her former life and attempting to assume a new identity. But has her new look really fooled bereft veteran fire chief Vincent (Vincent Lindon)? Or is he simply happy to play along? Especially as he has plenty of demons of his own to dealwith.

What follows is awild, emotional ride that only the most deadened of soul and hardest of hearts won’t be failed to be moved by in some way.

In her debut feature, Rousselle delivers a stunning performance, one that will no doubt see Hollywood banging down her door, desperate for her to be the next Lea Seydoux, although it’s hard to see them being able to find anything to match the challenges here. Credit too to Lindon (2015’s

for his complex turn, which plays a significant part in keeping the audience guessing.

Aheady, potent mix of themes, aesthetics, sensibilities and set pieces that will remind you of everything from and Cronenberg’s Johansson-starrer and this year’s

and is a triumph forwriter-director Ducournau. After this and can’t wait to see what she does next. to Scarlett

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