How important is a film's title in the modern day? It's unlikely that any member of a modern audience is wandering up to their local multiplex and buying a ticket for whatever sounds cool. New films already have to struggle against all the big franchise pieces, so a title that fades quickly from memory could be fatal. Some films opt to be remembered for being comical, rather than being good.
Like band names and online handles, it feels almost impossible to find a good film title that isn't taken ten times over. A title can be too clever for its own good, packed with too many made-up words, or too messy to recall, but it can also fail by being too simple.
Plane
This serviceable Gerard Butler vehicle is still very much in theaters at time of writing, but it seems like it's already been forgotten. Part of the problem might be the fact that it's named after a vehicle as well. It's hard to Google now, it'll be impossible to find by February. Butler stars as an ex-military pilot who suffers a catastrophic crash with a cabin full of passengers. His most valuable cargo happens to be a death-row inmate with a complicated past. After getting their bearings, they discover that they're surrounded by dangerous militiamen. There are a couple of strong moments in the film, but it's all been done several times already. The strongest reaction most will have to Plane will be laughing when its title hits the screen.
Devil
M. Night Shyamalan is one of the worst offenders when it comes to bad one-word titles. Some films do it well. Ridley Scott's Alien is a single word that efficiently communicates its narrative thrust, and hides layers in its simplicity. However, Shyamalan's 2010 film Devil is simultaneously uninteresting and irritating. Amazingly, it's worse than bland. The title of the film is a spoiler. It masquerades as a Hitchcockian thriller about five strangers trapped in an elevator. The power is on the fritz, and every time the lights go out, someone winds up dead. Both those trapped in the box and those trying to get them out begin to surmise that something supernatural might be behind the killings. The viewers, on the other hand, know exactly what is to blame, because the movie is called Devil. As everyone, but mostly the McElroys, pointed out, it should've obviously been called Hellevator.
The Box
Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly put his unique spin on Richard Matheson's 1970 short story "Button, Button." It follows a couple with money trouble who are offered a button and a choice. They are told that if they press the button, someone will die, but they'll receive a large cash payout. The story was previously adapted into a 1985 episode of The Twilight Zone under the same name. "Button, Button" isn't the most compelling name on Earth, but it communicates something. The repeated word implies a level of obsession as if it's the only thing the subject of the title can think about. The episode of The Twilight Zone changed a lot about the plot, but Kelly's film adaptation added so much needless garbage to the simple story that it became a mess. The titular button is the most important object in the story, the box is barely related. The most notable aspect of the box is the fact that it's empty. Why change the title at all? No one knows, but most people remember the film for its premise, rather than its title.
Killerman
One presumes the producers must have turned down "Murderer" and "Criminal" to get to their eventual choice. No, "killerman" isn't an actual word. Nor is it the assumed moniker of a superhero whose power is taking lives through violence. This poorly received 2019 action movie stars Liam Hemsworth in the role of an amnesiac money launderer evading the police with a mountain of stolen cash and drugs. The film follows a very similar premise to the more recent Josh Duhamel outing Blackout, which also boasts a title that sounds like a parody of itself. Both films feel like the kind of disposable trash that would appear in a sitcom. One could imagine a laugh track every time the name is spoken aloud.
Old
Pierre Oscar Levy's 2013 graphic novel Sandcastle serves as the basis for Shyamalan's latest bizarre outing. Sandcastle is an excellent title. Simple, catchy, memorable, and imbued with meaning. A sandcastle is a work of art, made more beautiful for its impermanence. A middle school student could piece it together. Old doesn't mean anything. It's hilarious to say aloud, especially at the end of its portentous trailer. The memes about "the beach that makes you old, from Old" reached more viewers than the film. He still hasn't learned his lesson. Shyamalan's upcoming film Knock at the Cabin replaces Cabin at the End of the World, the title of the source material. Whatever his other faults, Shyamalan loves a dull on-the-nose title, even when it would be easier to just leave it be.