Julia Ducournau on Writing 2021's Boldest Film

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( profile [Under Her Skin]( Julia Ducournau lets us in on the years of fury, angst, and comedy that fueled the Palme d’Or–winning, genre-smashing Titane. Photo: Jeff Brown Julia Ducournau is telling me a horror story. A true one. The two of us are walking through MoMA on a crisp fall Friday afternoon, in part because it’s one of the Parisian writer-director’s favorite spots to visit when she comes to New York City and in part because the museum happens to be putting on an exhibit called “Automania,” which could be an alternate title for her Cannes Palme d’Or–winning, paradigm-smashing, car-fucking second feature, Titane. Despite having woken up at 4:30 a.m. and flown here from a film festival in Texas, Ducournau, 37, looks soigné: pleated black Prada skirt, black leather Chanel jacket, iridescent-purple Issey Miyake tote bag, matched with scuffed white Adidas sneakers and the remnants of a late-summer tan. She’s five-foot-nine but gives off the distinct impression that she is six-foot-nine. She warns me that she can’t stay inside the museum chatting for too long without a break. “It’s not because I like fresh air or anything. I don’t give a shit about that,” she says. “But I like smoking.” [Read The Story »]( The Latest TV Recaps • [Only Murders in the Building:]( Outside the Box [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Squid Game’s Wi Ha-jun Is Dying to Find Out What Happened to Hwang Jun-ho “Return back alive.”]( [Eliza Clark on Exploding Y: The Last Man’s Definition of Gender “I understand the criticism of the book. I understand the criticism of even making this idea.”]( [Decoding The Many Saints of Newark’s Parallels With The Sopranos Seven ways the new Sopranos film echoes the original series and treats its story as mythology that can be retold, reinterpreted, and revised.]( [When Adele’s Album Finally Drops, a TV Special May Be Close Behind Sources tell Vulture that multiple networks and streaming platforms have been approached about staging a TV special tied to the new release.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Devour pop culture with us: [Subscribe to Vulture now for unlimited access.]( Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo: Jordan Ashleigh Get in, loser, we’re deconstructing heterosexuality. Comedians Sam Taggart and George Civeris host [StraightioLab]( (a pun on RadioLab), a podcast merging ironic detachment and tender vulnerability as they dissect all things straight. Season two kicks off today. [Read more from Vulture]( If you enjoyed reading Vulture’s daily newsletter, forward it to a friend. Or dive deeper into the Vulture universe with our other newsletters: • [1.5x Speed](: Podcast recommendations and listening notes from Nick Quah, sent every Wednesday. • [Buffering](: Joe Adalian reports on the streaming industry, sent every Thursday. • [The Housewives Institute Bulletin](: For dedicated students of the Reality TV Arts and Sciences, sent every other Friday. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on e-mail newsletters please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2021, All rights reserved