X (2022 Film)

''X'' is a 2022 slasher film written, directed, produced and edited by Ti West. It stars Mia Goth playing dual roles: Maxine is a young beautiful woman and the main protagonist and Pearl is an elderly woman and the main antagonist, alongside Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi appearing in supporting roles. Mescudi also served as co-executive producer. The film's plot follows a cast and crew who gather to make a pornographic film on an elderly couple's rural Texas property, but find themselves threatened by an unlikely killer.

''X'' was filmed in New Zealand, with production primarily in Fordell, near Whanganui. The score was composed by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe, who collaborated to create a soundtrack with emphasis on vocals and synthesizers. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 13, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 18, 2022, by A24. It received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its homages to twentieth-century slasher films, particularly 1974's ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', and the performances of Goth, Snow, and Ortega.

''X'' is the first in a film series of the same name, consisting of a prequel film titled ''Pearl'' released on September 16, 2022, and a sequel titled ''MaXXXine'' in development.

Plot

In 1979, aspiring pornographic actress Maxine Minx embarks on a road trip through Texas with her producer boyfriend Wayne Gilroy, fellow actors Bobby-Lynne Parker and Jackson Hole, amateur director RJ Nichols, and RJ's girlfriend, Lorraine Day, to shoot an adult film for the booming theatrical pornography market. Bobby-Lynne and Jackson strike up a romance, while Lorraine is unimpressed with the film's content, and RJ attempts to make it seem like a serious cinematic piece.

The group arrives at the farm of Howard and Pearl, an elderly couple in whose guest house the group intends to shoot the film ''The Farmer's Daughters''. Howard is temperamental towards the group, brandishing a shotgun while Pearl silently stalks Maxine. As filming commences without Howard's knowledge, Maxine is invited inside the couple's home by Pearl, where they have a conversation. Pearl laments her age, expresses jealousy for Maxine's youth, and makes a sexual advance towards her. She later watches Maxine have sex with Jackson and is aroused. Pearl pleads with Howard to have sex with her, but he refuses, claiming his heart is too weak.

Night falls, and the film crew relaxes in the guesthouse. Lorraine, keen to shed her reputation as a prude and intrigued by the film, asks to participate in the shoot. RJ is immediately opposed to the idea and accuses the group of putting her up to it, though they assure him that they did not and that Lorraine’s choice to be in the movie falls on her alone, regardless of his feelings. RJ then films the scene of Lorraine and Jackson having sex. Frustrated with the change in the script and in shock by Lorraine’s unfaithfulness, RJ sets out to leave the crew stranded at the farm while they are asleep, but he is stopped by Pearl, who attempts to seduce him. When he rebuffs her, she stabs him to death. Lorraine and Wayne notice RJ is missing and go searching for him. Pearl stabs Wayne in the eye before stabbing with a pitchfork in front of the barn, while Lorraine is invited into the couple's house by Howard, who claims Pearl is missing and asks Lorraine to retrieve a flashlight from the basement. When Lorraine attempts to leave the basement, she discovers she has been locked in. After turning on the light, she discovers the rigid corpse of a male sex slave hanging from the ceiling.

Howard approaches the guest house and asks Jackson to help him locate Pearl. Jackson finds a submerged car in a pond (belonging to the corpse in the basement) before Howard shoots him dead. Meanwhile, Pearl enters the guest house, climbs into Maxine's bed naked, and pets her. Maxine awakens and screams, causing Pearl to flee the house, which Bobby-Lynne witnesses. In the farmhouse, Lorraine uses a hatchet to try breaking through a panel in the basement door, but Howard attacks her, breaking her finger, and forces her back inside. Bobby-Lynne follows Pearl outside to the nearby lake and tries to guide her away from the water. Pearl angrily accuses Bobby-Lynne of being a whore before pushing her into the lake, where an alligator devours her.

Maxine sees Pearl and Howard return to the guest house and hides under the bed. The elderly couple discusses the murders before having sex. Maxine manages to flee to the van, where she finds RJ's corpse and the tires slashed. Armed with a pistol from the glovebox, Maxine enters the farmhouse and frees Lorraine, who angrily blames Maxine for what has happened. Lorraine panics and runs out the front door, only to be shot by Howard. As Howard and Pearl begin moving the body, intent on framing the crew as intruders, the dying Lorraine moves, startling Howard, who has a heart attack and dies.

Maxine retrieves the keys to Howard and Pearl's truck and attempts to shoot Pearl, but the pistol is not loaded. Pearl tries to shoot Maxine, who dodges the bullet, while the recoil from the shotgun causes Pearl to fall and break her hip. As Pearl lies injured outside the house, she begs Maxine for help. Maxine refuses, and as Pearl berates her, Maxine runs her over with the truck, crushing Pearl's head. Maxine drives away from the farm. The next morning, the police arrive at the house to retrieve the bodies.

It is revealed that Maxine is the daughter of a fundamentalist Christian preacher, whose speeches frequently played on Howard and Pearl's television. The police discover RJ's camera and speculate about what it contains.

Cast

* Mia Goth as Maxine "Max" Minx / Pearl
* Jenna Ortega as Lorraine Day
* Brittany Snow as Bobby-Lynne Parker
* Scott Mescudi as Jackson Hole
* Martin Henderson as Wayne Gilroy
* Owen Campbell as R.J. Nichols
* Stephen Ure as Howard

Additionally, James Gaylyn appears as Sheriff Dentler.

Themes and influences

Nate Roscoe of ''Fangoria'' wrote in an essay on the film that ''X'' exemplifies a modern take on the psycho-biddy horror subgenre, in which aging or elderly women portray grotesque, violent characters. Roscoe also notes that the film's primary theme revolves around aging, youth, and longing over the past. "Snatching its inspo from the shadiest recesses of art and exploitation, it is the relationship between beauty, aging and self-worth that creeps most conspicuously through the architecture of ''X''." He also notes that the film presents its antagonist—the murderous Pearl—in a manner that is sympathetic, writing that, at moments, "one can't help but feel crushingly sorry for this tragic figure."

Critics noted the influence of several films on ''X'', with multiple commentators observing homages to the 1974 film ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''. Other films cited by critics as having an influence on ''X'' include '' Psycho'' (1960), ''Hardcore'' (1979), '' The Shining'', ''Alligator'' (both 1980), and ''Boogie Nights'' (1997). Richard Roeper wrote that ''X'' also contains "echoes" of such pornographic films as ''Blue Movie'' (1969) and ''Debbie Does Dallas'' (1978).

Production

In November 2020, it was announced that A24 would produce a horror film titled ''X'', which would be written and directed by Ti West and star Mia Goth, Scott Mescudi (who also executive produces) and Jenna Ortega. In February 2021, Brittany Snow joined the cast.

Principal photography took place from February 16 to March 16, 2021, in New Zealand's North Island.

A number of scenes were shot in and around the city of Whanganui. Production was predominantly based at a farm in the settlement of Fordell, where a large barn was constructed as part of the production. Photography also took place near the Rangitīkei town of Bulls, where producers made use of an old town hall.

Special effects

Goth donned extensive prosthetic makeup to portray the elderly Pearl. Describing her experience, Goth stated, "It was a good 10 hours in the makeup chair, and then I'd go and do a 12-hour day on set, and the makeup artist, Sarah Rubano, who was incredible, would constantly be touching me up and making sure my contacts were all right and all those sorts of things."

The scene in which Pearl stabs RJ in the neck involved the use of a retractable prop knife, a prosthetic neck with a slit in it, and tubing to allow the passage of stage blood through the slit. The effect of RJ's subsequent decapitation was accomplished using a dummy head of RJ, with a stunt performer and a false floor; the stunt performer lay on his back, with his head and shoulders beneath the false floor and concealed by a prosthetic upper body. The performer then twitched his body during the filming of the scene, which, when paired with the disembodied dummy head, creates the illusion of RJ's body continuing to twitch after death. For the scene in which Pearl stabs Wayne in the eyes with a pitchfork, a dummy of Wayne's upper body and head was constructed by the Netherlands-based MimicFX Studio.

Music

The film's score was composed by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe, and features a cover version of "Oui, Oui, Marie" performed by Wolfe, which was released as a digital single on March 11, 2022. Bates said that the pair intended to "create a vocal-centric score framed with organic synthesizers and atmospheres that evoke a sonic aesthetic of ’70s arthouse horror films". Wolfe, who had not soundtracked a film before, primarily contributed her voice to the score, and attempted to use non-singing sounds to emulate the character's emotions. Bates compared the score to that somewhere between that of ''Debbie Does Dallas'' and ''Rosemary's Baby''.

Aside from the score by Bates and Wolfe, the film incorporates a number of songs from the 1960s and 1970s, including "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry, "Act Naturally" by Loretta Lynn, and "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. Additionally, one scene in the film features Jackson (Scott Mescudi) and Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) performing "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, with the former playing acoustic guitar and the latter providing vocals.

Release

Theatrical

''X'' premiered at the 2022 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival on March 13, 2022. The film was released in the United States on March 18, 2022.

Home media

The film was released on video on demand services (including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, and VUDU) on April 14, 2022. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 24, 2022, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Reception

Box office

''X'' grossed $11.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $15.1 million, making it a box office success against its mere $1 million budget.

In the United States and Canada, ''X'' was released alongside ''Jujutsu Kaisen 0'', '' The Outfit'', and ''Umma'', and was projected to gross $2–5 million in its opening weekend. The film earned $4.3 million from 2,865 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing fourth. Men made up 55% of the audience during its opening, with those in the age range of 18–34 comprising 73% of ticket sales. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 50% were Caucasian, 22% Hispanic and Latino Americans, 12% African American, and 16% Asian or other. The film made $2.2 million in its second weekend and $1 million in its third. It dropped out of the box office top ten in its fourth weekend with $359,067 (a drop of 65%).

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 220 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A fresh spin on the classic slasher formula, ''X'' marks the spot where Ti West gets resoundingly back to his horror roots." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 79 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 68% positive score, with 45% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Reviewing the film following its SXSW premiere, Owen Gleiberman of ''Variety'' called it "a deliberate, loving, and meticulous homage" to 1974's ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', as well as "a wily and entertaining slow-motion ride of terror that earns its shocks, along with its singular quease factor, which relates to the fact that the demons here are ancient specimens of humanity who actually have a touch of... humanity." John DeFore of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' commended the film's cast and noted that, "Before the gore begins (and even mid-action), West seems to truly consider the pain of irretrievable youth, and feel for those whose final years are consumed by it." ''The A.V. Club''s Todd Gilchrist gave the film a grade of "B+", writing that it "examines the way that youth in others seems to bring out the feeling and impact of age in ourselves, not to mention how we resist or respond to that when it happens," and calling it "bloody, ballsy fun". Abby Olcese, writing for '' RogerEbert.com'', gave the film a score of three out of four stars, concluding: "''X'' is plenty of fun; it also feels like a trifle that could easily have been much more."

Upon release, ''The Atlantic''s David Sims called the film "a modern classic", comparing it with 2022's ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre'', which he felt failed creatively compared to ''X''. Richard Roeper of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' awarded the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "the kind of movie that has you reeling in disgust at certain moments, then laughing at the blood-spattered absurdity of it all. It's a new twist on the period-piece slasher movie, smart and strange and fantastically depraved." A.O. Scott, in a review of the film for ''The New York Times'', wrote that ''X'' "isn't shy about appealing to voyeurism. There's nothing coy or arty about the bloodletting. ..West, unlike his pornographers, has things to say as well as bodies to show. Most of all, he has an aesthetic that isn't all about terror or titillation. ''X'' is full of dreamy, haunting overhead shots and moments of surprising tenderness." Alfred Van Der Zwam of ''Voices from the Balcony'' awarded the movie 3.5 out of 5 stars, elaborating that "''X'' mostly succeeds as an entertaining, calmly moving, nostalgic and ultimately unassuming horror film flavoured with an excellent 70s soundtrack."

Valerie Complex of ''Deadline Hollywood'' referred to the film as "a new love letter to the slasher film genre", writing: "I give West credit for having a vision and sticking to his influences. He knows what he wants to do and how to execute it unapologetically. ''X'' is surface-level entertainment ..but still a satisfying piece of indie horror filmmaking that's worth taking a chance on." Dmitry Samarov of the ''Chicago Reader'' gave the film a mostly negative review, writing that "even the most casual horror fan won't miss" the references that ''X'' makes to 1974's ''Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', but that, "unlike Tobe Hooper's masterpiece, which has a point to make about economic desperation and cultural clash in 70s America, West just wants to punish everyone involved in gory ways played for laughs."

Accolades

Related works

In March 2022, it was revealed that a prequel film, ''Pearl'', was shot back-to-back in secret with the first film. West directed and co-wrote the film with Goth. Principal photography took place in New Zealand, and upon official announcement was already in the post-production stage. Goth reprises her role as a younger-aged Pearl. A24 produced the project, with Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss and Kevin Turen serving as producers, and West, Goth, Mescudi and Sam Levinson as executive producers. A sneak preview was also shown in ''Xs post-credits scene for North American releases only. ''Pearl'' was released theatrically in North America on September 16, 2022, approximately six months after the release of ''X''.

A third installment in the series, ''MaXXXine'', was announced shortly before the release of ''Pearl'', which will focus on the Maxine character in 1980s Los Angeles, following the events depicted in ''X''.

References

External links

*

{{Ti West

2022 films
2022 horror thriller films
2020s erotic thriller films
2020s serial killer films
2020s slasher films
American erotic horror films
American erotic thriller films
American serial killer films
American slasher films
Canadian horror films
Canadian slasher films
A24 (company) films
2022 independent films
Films about old age
Films about pornography
Films directed by Ti West
Films scored by Tyler Bates
Films set in 1979
Films set in farms
Films set in Texas
Films shot in New Zealand
Mad Solar productions
Psycho-biddy films
2020s English-language films
2020s Canadian films
2020s American films