THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Horror movies are known to be shocking, but I don’t think anyone expected X to be as shocking as it was.
PLOT
The film takes in 1979 Texas and follows Maxine Minx, daughter of a fundamentalist Christian preacher, who aspires to make a breakthrough as an pornographic actress. With the help of her boyfriend Wayne Gilroy, they plan to reach the same success as they go on a road trip with a film crew to make an amateur film for the genre’s theatric market. With Wayne as producer, the rest of the group includes: RJ Nichols as writer & director, his girlfriend Lorraine Day as boom mic operator, and Bobby Lynne Parker & Jackson Hole as actors alongside Max. They shoot their film at a guest house that belongs to an elderly couple, Howard and Pearl. However, they don’t tell them they’re shooting a porno. With Howard acting temperamental towards the crew with a shotgun in each given opportunity, Pearl would specifically stalk Max, expressing lamentation and jealousy towards her youth. The only time both women interact during the day is when Max enters the house, sharing lemonade offered by Pearl who would show her pictures of her past while Howard gets groceries. As she would continue following her in secret, Pearl would become aroused of Max’s sex scene with Jackson being filmed in the barn. By night, Lorraine becomes so intrigued by the film that she requests to have a scene. Despite RJ’s objections, everyone else encourages her to take part in it, thus leading her to do a sex scene with Jackson. Enraged that his girlfriend acted unfaithful which also ruins his script, RJ chooses to leave the crew stranded while they’re sleeping. He stops himself from when he sees Pearl outside. She would then kill him by stabbing his neck with a knife, when he turns down her advances. When Lorraine noticed that he’s missing, she and Wayne go looking for him. Pearl would kill Wayne as hell by stabbing his face with a pitchfork in the barn. When Lorraine tells Howard that her boyfriend is missing, he traps her in the house’s cellar. She would try to break through the door, but before she could reach the door lock, he would break a finger on her right hand, forcing her to stay there. As she remains stuck there, she would scream in terror upon discovering the corpse of another man. Howard would then go to the guest house, asking Jackson to help him find his wife, which would be his excuse to kill him in the woods, shooting him with his shotgun. Pearl would sneak into the guest house, climbing onto Max’s bed as her naked body is still covered in RJ’s blood. Max would wake up terrified upon seeing her, causing the older woman to flee by the time Bobby Lynne wakes up to check on her. She would follow Pearl outside, only to be pushed by her into the lake, resulting in being devoured by an alligator. Max would see Howard & Pearl return to the guest house, but wouldn’t be able to leave while the couple distract themselves having sex, aroused of the blood they’ve shed. When she gets to the van, she not only finds RJ’s corpse, but also that the tires were slashed. However, she arms herself with Wayne’s pistol that was in the glove compartment. When looking for the keys to Howard’s truck in the house, she frees Lorraine from the cellar. However, the latter remains panicked and sprints to the front door, only to be shot down by Howard. Surprisingly, when he tries to move her body, he would have a heart attack as her twitching body startles him. Max would find the keys and would try to shoot Pearl, but that would backfire upon realizing that the pistol was never loaded. Pearl would try to return the favor by shooting her with her husband’s shotgun, but the recoil cause her to fall down and break her hip upon landing. With Max dodging the shot, she is able to run over Pearl as she drives away. The film ends with the police arriving by next morning, trying to speculate what had happened before retrieving RJ’s camera.
THOUGHTS
Looking back at 2022, I found myself impressed with the fantastic array of horror films that released within the said year that include the likes of Barbarian, Nope and The Black Phone. By the time I got to this film in particular, a part of me already knew I was gonna be blown away, which only made me glad that I actually was. Writer/Director Ti West definitely knew how to get everyone out of the comfort zone and uses it to the advantage to keep you compelled with the whole story to behold the ensuing bloodshed. And when that happens, it's too intriguing to look away. It ain't the first time I've seen people fictionally die from guns, knives and pitchforks, but it's all well executed as you see it progress. Having porn involved in a non exploitative manner to set the conflict in motion was the way to speak up on the general issue of age and sexuality, whereas you can lose your feeling of being desired the older you get. That is something that is personally terrifying because it's true: When you get older, you can not function like you used to and some people will choose to ignore you. No one should ever feel this way yet it is an uncomfortable cycle that happens in life that can lead to people reacting with shame and/or anger. You definitely sensed that in the presence of Pearl. With her life passing her by before she could even know it, Mia Goth showed her to be one that yearns to be youthful again to have a second chance at enjoying life. She feels so entrapped for not building the future she wanted and seeing the crew do what they did only riles her up to do what she does. You feel such a frown when this elderly woman puts on makeup because she is desperate to feel affection again and being rebuffed at every turn is the final straw. She starts killing everyone alongside her enabling husband Howard, whose menacingly played by Stephen Ure, because she feels that they don't deserve their youth. Little would she expect that at least one was willing to defy her. The movie's final girl Maxine, whose also played by Goth, is definitely a polar opposite because she is able to take full advantage of her opportunities to lead her life however and doesn't let anyone stop her from doing what she wants. Even though she wants to distance herself from her father, she quotes his speech whenever because that is how she motivates herself to keep going. What makes her have the X factor is that she is able to make the most impact in any situation and she does so when killing Pearl, refusing to live like her. And also seeing her drive away after overcoming the odds, you can't help but feel optimistic towards her because you just know she still has her life in her hands and can take it however she wants. Whether or not it's porn, you'll respectfully accept that she's doing what she wants. The coolest thing when it came to follow this bloody journey that the rest of the crew makes is that they actually do their best in expressing kindness in return for the given hospitality before things don't go as planned. Brittany Snow may make a sex symbol out of Bobby Lynne for being openly sexual, but also chooses to act intelligently in her given time. Rather than being cruel towards Pearl, she actually showed worry first because she relates to knowing relatives being unaware of their actions/surroundings. The second I saw her go to the lake, I knew she was doomed because this was Pearl's excuse to lure her out and continue her bloodlust. And I gotta say, it was pretty fucked up seeing that reptile eat her. Even Scott Mescudi aka Kid Cudi played Jackson as a decent guy who expressed solidarity towards Howard due to both being military veterans. He had no reason to be rude until the latter chose to be homicidal. Owen Campbell definitely made RJ the most neutral of characters because he seems to have good intentions that end up backfiring. He's open minded on making a porno because that's his way to express creativity and aspire to break into the filmmaking industry. With that mindset, he didn't really think twice on wondering how Lorraine would feel at first. This is where it would blow up in his face because he never intended nor anticipated for her to participate as an actress since he knew he would never cheat on her like she would. He tries to play it safe by using the excuse of ruining the story, in order to avoid saying he doesn't approve of it being a business relationship in this line of work. When you look at this in Lorraine's shoes, you start to know that Jenna Ortega is portraying her as one who wants to fit in and not be a buzz kill. The whole day she spends helping RJ make the film, she is naturally interested in having bigger involvement. She doesn't want to hurt RJ, but she wants to live freely like everyone else chooses to. And because she's not exactly seeing how he would feel, it makes her unseen sex scene traumatizing for him. That emotionally broke him and gave him good reason to abandon everybody, before the night goes south starting with him. The only one that actually came off a little bit selfish was Wayne because he chose not to be upfront with what he was doing and had he funded more for a legit studio that would approve of their porno, no one would've died. The only reason I end up choosing to respect him is that he chose to be a loyal boyfriend to Max and doesn't think about making a move on either of the other ladies. He was such a good pair with Max from the start because he relates to the determination of succeeding rather than struggling forever. And at the same time though, even he justified Howard's resentful hostility, knowing that he would've felt the same at the latter's age. He even showed concern for him when he was coughing, which showed that he ain't exactly heartless. Because of that level of self awareness, you couldn't help feeling bad for him as well when he dies. This film knew what it was and embraced every bit of it, but having said that, there were moments that just didn’t make sense to me. For instance, I thought it was a bad move for the crew to film in the guest house without covering the windows. Of course they were trying to rely on natural lighting, but I’m sure Howard had at least a lantern that would’ve done the trick. And why would Jackson answer the door naked? That was more pointless than Wayne looking for RJ in just his undies. On top of that, why didn’t Lorraine try escaping when Howard left? I know she’s scared, but it’s not like he was watching her the whole time. Also, why the hell did RJ not tell Lorraine they were shooting a porno? Maybe she would've not come with him but had he been upfront about it, she likely would've restrained herself from acting in it. And lastly, how is Pearl so fast? This is literally the same question I ask when it comes to slashers because we don’t always sprint and every time we see Pearl, she’s walking slowly for her age, so it becomes hard to believe she would catch up to Max in her given time. I gotta point out the same with Howard because he had just killed before smashing Lorraine's fingers. You can call it a time jump, but I call it a story happening way too fast particularly with these two scenes. This even becomes a problem when both make it back to their house after having sex. I know the story has to wrap up, but you maintain little bit the realism here. Other than that, this movie remains an unexpected blast to witness. In conclusion, X is 2022’s best horror film for knowing how to get everyone on edge in ways that are hard to explain. You want a horror movie that just knows how to get to you? This is the one for you.
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