“X” - Film Review
Centered on a film crew’s attempt to shoot a pornographic movie on a secluded farm in middle-of-nowhere Texas, X is a “foxy trainwreck.” The get-rich-quick idea comes from Wayne (Martin Henderson), a purveyor of all things erotic in Houston, Texas. He runs a topless buffet restaurant where his much younger fiancé, Maxine (Mia Goth), and fellow waitress Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) work. In an effort to capitalize on the fame of Debbie Does Dallas and the dawn of the VHS movie era, Wayne enlists filmmaker RJ (Owen Campbell) and his girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), to write and direct their porn feature: The Farmer’s Daughters. Maxine, Bobby-Lynne, and Bobby-Lynne’s sometimes boyfriend Jackson (Kid Cudi) will make up the cast of the movie.
The ragtag crew is planning to make use of a rundown boarding house on a property owned by an older couple, Howard and Pearl (Stephen Ure and Goth in a second role with heavy prosthetics). After listening to a warning from the husband, Howard, about keeping clear of the main house and his wife, the crew begins to shoot their movie. At first the couple seems to be harmless, if a little odd, but things take a violent, bloody turn as day becomes night. Like so many slashers before it, X is about trying to survive the night while evil lurks around every corner.
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At times, X is a delightful, tongue-in-cheek, modern take on a ’70s B movie. The makers are clearly aware that a lot of the audience was sold on the idea of a porn slasher movie without even having to see a trailer or promotional images. X delightfully plays into their preconceived notions by having one of the characters say, “now give the people what they want” and immediately cutting to a sex scene. Through RJ’s character, the film also slyly pokes fun at internet film culture and its obsession with elevated horror movies. “I’m treating it not as pornography, but as cinema,” he says at one point. A clear wink in the direction of the megafans of X’s distributor, A24. When X relishes its purpose as a B movie homage, it’s captivating. With The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Scream (2022), Studio 666, and now X, Ortega is firmly solidifying herself as Gen Z’s scream queen.
Snow, who also has horror movie roots, was mesmerizing, and stole the show with an unexpected, but entirely welcome, mid-movie “Landslide” serenade. Writer/director Ti West is also no stranger to celebrating the heyday of slasher B movies. His often overlooked 2009 feature, The House of the Devil, is a revitalized version of an ’80s slasher film and X shows his growth since making The House of the Devil.
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The editing of X is essentially a character of its own. There are plenty of transition wipes that are mixed in with more jarring hard cuts. In lieu of traditional jumpscares, X uses these harsh cuts as scares of their own. The film also delights in creating and drawing out tension; both the sexual tension of the porn-within-the-movie and the terrifying tension of the odd, leering couple from the farm house. West shows the full picture of the scene, letting the audience see the evil slowly making its way toward the lead characters, unbeknownst to them. Despite this awareness of the horror that lies ahead, there is still a potent sense of dread. In fact, the film even lays out the severity of the carnage from the first scene and still manages to make the journey unnerving.
Perhaps it was the expectation of substance from two genres that historically shy away from depth, but X ultimately felt like it was meandering without a purpose. And maybe that was the point–to enjoy the ride without being bogged down by a hefty plot. Those going to the theatre to see the nudity and gore of the horror movies of yesteryear will leave satisfied. Those expecting to see something more will have to wait for the prequel that, according to a post-credits scene, is coming soon. It’s somewhat frustrating to know that this film is on the horizon, because the glimpse the audience was given seems to fill in some of the gaps that so desperately needed to be filled to make X as breezily enjoyable as it should have been.
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