For a film satirizing pop culture's obsession with serial killers, Name Above Title makes a bold move by opening with a Ted Bundy quote -- but then again, writer-director Carlos Conceição did not make a shy movie. There are plenty of gutsy, stylish choices taken, and for the most part, they're for solid reasons. Name Above Title evokes nostalgia for 60s-era Ingmar Bergman mysteries and will play best to an audience craving a quiet and taut story with plenty of kills but zero bloodshed.

Name Above Title is all about what we choose to see of people and what we choose to ignore. Its tight 55-minute runtime keeps its tense tightrope act thrilling throughout, with a core cast of five actors who play multiple roles -- and, most impressively, with zero dialogue.

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Name Above Title opens with Candide (Matthieu Charneau) running across a dying woman (Joana Ribeiro) in the street. She whispers something to him and he kisses her. Within minutes, a video of the kiss goes viral and he's picked up by Magda (Leonor Silveira), a trendsetter, who wants to market him. Charneau nails the incredulous situation his character finds himself in and often directs glaring looks to the camera -- as if he is telling the audience, "Are you seeing this?" The film points to his attractiveness as the ultimate disguise. He's trusted because he's attractive. There's a haunting weight to each step he takes.

Unbeknownst to the crowd, Candide was just returning from killing a woman who looks nearly identical to Ribeiro's character. This isn't the first time that this happens in the film. Any person who Candide kills looks like the same woman to him. It's a clever way to display his profiling of women victims, even if at first it's jarring for the audience. Ribeiro truly delivers the film's thrills as, even though we know she'll be killed again and again, each death feels unique. We root for someone to see through Candide's pretty face and glamour.

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Zero dialogue is always a risk, as, at worst, it could be so minimalistic that it lacks meaning. However, Name Above Title is nothing less than direct. Conceição is not hiding his distaste for the vulture-like nature of the 24-hour news cycle. His main character, a serial killer, isn't a genius. He's a victim of dumb luck, running in contrast to the sensationalized view we have of killers in pop culture. Candide (Matthieu Charneau) is just a 1979 George Michaels-looking man, who's too handsome for people to imagine he's a killer. The honest and cold truth of that harkens back to the opening quote from Ted Bundy, another man who managed to kill so many women purely because he used romantic allure as another disguise.

That being said, Name Above Title can stray a bit too far into its pointed critique. The film's ending, particularly, leans too far into the absurd ways people look for a savior. While it makes quasi-sense in the context of the film, it relies more on abstraction than necessary. The premise alone and the way it unfolds -- what happens when a killer is obsessively watched and how he uses this fame to his advantage -- are a juicy enough story as it is. Thankfully, there are enough drops of humor throughout the film to keep it from taking itself too seriously. Filmed in a 4:3 ratio and drenched in a moody atmosphere, Name Above Title is nevertheless a sharp arthouse film that will leave audiences with plenty to discuss.

Name Above Title made its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2021 and also was featured in 2021's Nightstream film festival.

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