Name Above Title (Um Fio de Baba Escarlate) (Movie Review)

Screened as a part of the 2021 Fantastic Fest.

What happens when a serial killer has the best week of his life? Carlos Conceição’s Name Above Title gives audiences a magical realist answer to that question.

A serial killer named Candide (Matthieu Charneau)—a reference to Voltaire’s classic satire—lives a quiet life in Lisbon, Portugal while also killing people using a phone charger. As he is driving in his sports car, a woman lands next to him after we see her jump from a balcony. He grants her last wish to be “kissed” and the clip goes viral on a Youtube analogous platform that somehow has no content restrictions. Candide becomes an instant celebrity, continuing his murders while receiving unusual benefits from his fame. After a series of vignettes, the film concludes with a commentary on the rise and fall of celebrities in culture.

Name Above Title is a nearly silent film with no spoken dialogue outside of some distorted audio and one particular exchange. The plot is entirely conveyed through visuals which has the potential to occasionally unmoor the audience. That said, Conceição’s confident commitment to the form never loses the through-line of the story. Shot entirely in 4:3 aspect ratio, Name Above Title has the style of a 1960s hand-held camera layered on top of beautiful HD video. This aesthetic choice, mixed with bold costuming, and the hard Goblin-Esque synth soundtrack evoke a modern, yet timeless feel. The film is an accomplishment in visual storytelling.

The movie is aesthetically inspired by the Giallo films of the 1960s while making some key subversions to that formula in the presentation of the killer and his victims. He is known from the beginning and continues to give a wry smile as, despite his odd luck, everything keeps turning out well for him. Choices like having all of the victims played by the same actor (Joana Ribiero) add commentary on Candide’s and the audience’s attitude toward these characters, invoking the sense that they are viewed as generic disposable women. We do not receive much motivation behind their actions, keeping these victims in a two-dimensional plain as viewed from the perspective of their murderer.

Conceição’s reference to the Candide novella is cleverly applied to contemporary concerns. Indeed, it’s a film that’s more interested in asking questions about the technologically interpreted problem of evil and modern celebrity—the serial killer who the public loathes but we, nevertheless, clamour to know everything about.

Overall, Name Above Title will not be a film for everyone. It is short at 59 minutes, somewhat perplexing, and with room for interpretation. The ending seemed pedestrian in terms of satire and was purchased from the cliche metaphor store. If you want a mildly funny satire with the visuals of an absurdist Drive (2011), then this film will grab you by the neck and won't let go.