Sometimes, a movie title is simple and succinct, even just a single word. Think of hits like Barbie, Air, or CODA; it’s clear what these movies are about. Sometimes, however, a movie title really grips the viewer and has a much deeper meaning behind it. Maybe it’s clever or punny, like Lost in Translation or The Santa Clause. Sometimes, it’s blunt and descriptive, designed to avoid any chance of misinterpretation, like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

In the last five years, there have been interesting, thought-provoking movie titles that show creators really paid attention to getting it right. On the surface, these movie titles are indicative of the films, but upon closer examination, there’s even more than meets the eye. These movie titles are evocative and insightful, ranking as the best of the last 5 years.

10 ‘Nomadland’ (2020)

Directed by Chloe Zhao

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Earning An Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Nomadland instantly draws viewers in with the title. The name is a play on the term “No Man’s Land,” which describes a desolate area, typically one that is contested in terms of ownership. It’s fitting for the story about Fern (McDormand), a woman who, after losing her husband and her job, makes an impulsive, life-changing decision. She packs up her things and goes on the road to live as a nomad. She meets many others along the way, many played by real-life nomads, who help her learn the ropes and dive headfirst into this exciting albeit quiet new life.

The title is self-explanatory, referencing both Fern’s decision to become a nomad and how she immerses herself into the community as her new “land.” Nomads do indeed live off the land in many ways and technically live on many lands. They are never in one place for a long time, always looking for the next adventure and the next place to call “home.”

Directed by Darius Marder

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Sound of Metal is such a clever name for a movie about a young man who plays drums in a heavy metal band before losing his hearing. When Ruben (Riz Ahmed) starts to have trouble hearing and gets his diagnosis, he’s gutted by the news, especially since music is his life. He’s also unable to process the reality of what he happening to him and unable to accept the eventual fate. So, he desperately tries to find any solution possible to stop the inevitable from affecting his life.

The title cleverly references not only the literal sound of metal, the music genre, but also the tinny sound Ruben eventually hears after selling everything he can to buy implants. He’s told it won’t be the solution he hopes for, but Ruben is insistent that he can’t live without hearing. Some viewers also point out the double meaning of the word when spelled mettle, which references someone who is not able to cope with a difficult situation. Sound of Metal might sound like a simple movie title, but there is so much more meaning behind it.

8 ‘Promising Young Woman’ (2020)

Directed by Emerald Fennell

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Aside from being a fabulous movie in general, Promising Young Woman also has a meaningful title. The movie is about Cassie (Carey Mulligan in one of her best roles), a woman on a mission to take down men who take advantage of women. She spends her nights going to clubs, pretending to be intoxicated until a man tries to take her home. Once at his place, she reveals that she’s completely sober and chastises the man to (hopefully) teach him a lesson. She does this again and again, and it all stems from the death of her best friend, Nina, who was sexually assaulted and died by suicide.

There are so many directions the meaning of this title could go. Nina was a promising young woman whose life was cut short because of what happened to her. It could also allude to Cassie herself, who had a promising future in medical school before this tragedy affected her so deeply. But more likely, it’s about all the promising young women who find their lives changing course at the hands of sexual assault and rape. There’s also a clever reference to a real-life situation. DSTV compared the title to words spoken in the court case against Brock Turner, a Stanford student who was convicted of sexual assault but only served half of his six-month sentence. The judge reportedly let Turner off early because he felt that he was a “promising young man.” Promising Young Woman title slyly flips the script to bring to light that there’s often no one standing up for these “promising young women” when they are victimized.

7 ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ (2020)

Directed by Eliza Hittman

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The title is a mouthful and sounds like someone indecisive. But there’s a ton of meaning behind the words, as well as the movie, which takes a rare, raw, and honest look at the controversial topic of abortion. The story in Never Rarely Sometimes Always centers around Autumn (Sidney Flanigan), a 17-year-old who finds out she is pregnant. Learning she cannot get an abortion in Pennsylvania, Autumn resorts to extreme measures before deciding to travel where she can get the medical procedure done. As Autumn moves from one city to another, she learns (and reveals) more about herself.

What about the movie’s title? Never Rarely Sometimes Always references the series of questions that a social worker asks Autumn about her past sexual activity. The questions are personal at best and invasive at worst, and women are typically given these four multiple-choice answer options from which to choose. The scene itself is intense and harrowing, with Flanigan delivering a stellar performance that should’ve earned her more awards attention.

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6 ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ (2020)

Directed by Charlie Kaufman

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A surrealist psychological thriller, this isn’t a movie about someone considering dying by suicide. The initial meaning behind I’m Thinking of Ending Things is less ominous, at least at first. It centers around a young woman (Jessie Buckley) who, en route to meet her boyfriend’s parents, is contemplating ending the relationship with him. There’s a parallel story also being told about an elderly school janitor, and the two eventually intersect.

The situation gets more and more strange as the woman’s identity, stories about her, and stories involving her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons), his parents, and that janitor take weird turns. As it turns out, the double meaning of the movie may very well have to do with depression and dying by suicide. But the fractured yet compelling story takes viewers on a journey to figuring out how and why before they can truly understand the title’s true meaning.

5 ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of the Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’ (2020)

Directed by Jason Woliner

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Often shortened to just Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the long title is designed in the same mockumentary style as the movie itself. Sacha Baron Cohen reprises his role as the fictional Borat, a journalist from Kazakhstan. A sequel to the also hilariously titled Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the sequel is designed to suggest that the meaning is lost in translation. English is not Borat’s first language, so he tries to create a title indicative of what the film is about using the broken English that he knows while also trying to make it sound intelligent. The result is a title that sounds like it was run through a sub-pad translator.

The movie is told in Borat’s usual style, but with Maria Bakalova, an unknown actress, playing his daughter so as to infiltrate various situations undetected. The goal in the movie is for Borat to get Tutar (Bakalova) to Mike Pence and offer her as his bride. Yes, it’s as absurd as it sounds, but as with other Borat movies, Cohen uses his absurd style and platform to make cutting social commentary about the state of America. Silly as it is, the movie earned two Academy Award nominations, including one for Bakalova for Best Supporting Actress.

4 ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ (2022)

Directed by Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

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If ever there was a title that beautifully encapsulates what a movie is about without saying much at all, it’s this one. Everything Everywhere All At Once really is a movie with a lot happening, all over the place, including in alternate worlds and different versions of reality. The storyline in the absurdist comedy-drama centers around a Chinese American couple who are being audited by the IRS. Soon, Evelyn’s (Michelle Yeoh) realities start changing. Her meek husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) appears to be some time secret martial arts expert, warning her about things going on in the multiverse and asking for her help. Suddenly, Evelyn finds herself in another world where she’s a skilled martial artist, too.

From a world where people have hot dogs as fingers to one where they are rocks, Everything Everywhere All At Once leaves fans puzzled, shocked, and thoroughly entertained. According to Screen Rant, the title isn’t just meant to describe the frantic nature of the movie (though it certainly fits). It cuts much deeper, referencing how even the most mundane moments and aspects of life have meaning. In essence, it’s about finding meaning in a confusing, seemingly meaningless world. Seeing it that way, the movie title is so much more profound.

3 ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ (2022)

Directed by Martin McDonagh

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While The Banshees of Inisherin puzzled viewers with its title, this didn’t impact the movie’s reach. The star power of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson brings together this black tragicomedy, which earned nine Academy Award nominations. At its heart, it’s the story of lifelong friends who suddenly stop talking. Upset that his drinking buddy, Colm, has started to ignore him, Padriac tries to get to the bottom of things. So begins an intense relationship between the two that goes in unexpectedly dark directions.

What’s the meaning behind the name? Along with Inisherin in the movie title being the name of the fictional island where the pair reside, the title also comes down to Colm’s love of music and music composition. In a single scene, he tells Padraic that the song he’s working on is called The Banshees of Inisherin. This supposedly draws inspiration from mythical Irish figures in folklore that howl to indicate that death is coming, according to GQ. Thus, call it a bit of clever foreshadowing with metaphorical referencing.

2 ‘Triangle of Sadness’ (2022)

Directed by Ruben Ostlund

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In this satirical black comedy, those aboard a luxury cruise end up stranded on a desert island where the wealthy and entitled passengers, including a celebrity couple, must try and survive. Earning three Academy Award nominations, Triangle of Sadness features an ensemble cast that includes the ever-reliable Woody Harrelson. It’s told in three parts, the central characters being Carl (Harris Dickinson), a model, and his girlfriend Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a model and influencer.

According to Deadline, the movie title references a Swedish saying that describes the wrinkles between someone’s eyebrows when they become worried or stressed. The result looks, in essence, like a triangle. Hilariously, however, writer and director Robert Ostlund also jokes that “you can fix it with Botox in 15 minutes.” Thus, the movie (and its title) also serve as commentary about how so many people feel like building a beautiful exterior shell will help fix their inner problems, though in reality, it won’t.

1 ‘Poor Things’ (2023)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

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Earning Emma Stone a Best Actress Academy Award, Poor Things is a Victorian-era-set heartwarming story about a young woman named Bella (Stone) who has received a brain transplant. After dying by suicide, an eccentric surgeon named Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) replaces her brain with that of a fetus. Despite her childlike innocence, naivety, and lack of intelligence, Bella endears those around her but tends to make rash and immature decisions.

Poor Things is based on a novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, which explains the title’s meaning in a roundabout way. Written as though Gray has found documents about a fictional story that he is editing and publishing, he declares that he wants to rename the story Poor Things because “every single character…is called poor or call themselves that sometime or other.” The title could also refer to what people often say about animals who are experimented on, much like Bella was. Going deeper, the title could also point to all the men in Bella’s life who try desperately to control her, only to discover she is the liberated creature and the are nothing more than poor things.

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