X [2022] film review

The newest entry from A24 is X, a period piece set in 1979, that follows a group heading to a rural town in Texas to shoot a porno. Mia Goth stars as Maxine, an aspiring actress who is using porn as a stepping-stone to not only a successful acting career, but significantly more important to her, the lavish lifestyle that she believes that she deserves.

Her boyfriend, Wayne (Martin Henderson), is the producer of the film and he gives off sleazy snake-oil-salesman vibes that fit perfectly within the 1970s setting. Kid Cudi, credited as Scott Mescudi, is the stud of the porno. His girlfriend is Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), a woman who embraces porn and is surprisingly astute of the profession and industry.

RJ (Owen Campbell) is the director who is determined to make a serious art film that juxtaposes its smutty content. Rounding out the group is RJ’s girlfriend, Lorraine, who is played by Jenna Ortega who we just saw in the latest Scream. Lorraine is silently condescending of the pornographic nature of the film and of everyone involved. She maintains a purist view of love and sex that makes her turn her nose up to the group.

The group is likable and interesting. Even Loraine, who is the resident prude, is intriguing because I found myself really invested in learning what gives her this puritanical outlook on love, relationships, and sex. The film refreshingly does not rely on stereotypes or stock characters, so the cast fills real.

Ti West returns to horror films in strong fashion. The trailer is nuts and the actual film delivers on it. There are serious Texas Chainsaw Massacre influences in the film; both in the time and setting but also in the visuals. The cinematography of the rural Texas fields is heavily reminiscent of shots from TCM. Ti West seems to wear this influence proudly on his sleeve and does not shy from expressing his influences and love for the slasher sub-genre.

Cut throughout the film are shots of a television playing segments from a fire & brimstone-type pastor’s sermon. The pastor pontificates on the young people of the world being seduced into a world of debauchery and carnal sin. These segments are spliced perfectly with the group shooting their film and engaging in said debauchery and said sin. This is a beautiful juxtaposition between the sermon discussing the perils of lust and the group eagerly participating in it. The question can be raised if Ti West is making a social statement with this contrast and if the resulting deaths stemming from the aforementioned indulgence into sin is a moralistic consequence from straying off God’s path.

This particular imagery further reinforces the Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s influence. There’s something about the context of the sermon with the 70’s style recording that reminds me of TCM. Not just in its imagery but in this idea of wayward youth being punished for stepping outside of the confines of accepted morality.

I’ve never seen an elderly villain in a slasher before, so this is relatively radical. The idea that she was envious of their youth and angry at her perception that they were wasting it, is an interesting dialogue on the elderly. Geriatrics are a community that is largely forgotten; both in film and in the real world. Their thoughts, opinions, and feelings are not only de-valued but they’re non-existent to many people. This film starts a nice commentary on how the elderly may possibly resent younger generations. Decades of rumination on the things that they wish that they had done differently gives them a powerful perspective that is intriguing not only in this film, but one that should be discussed in real life too. This is an interesting film for the sex and slicing and dicing, but also on this unique subject that is raised.

X is a love letter to slasher genres of yesteryear but it maintains a freshness that prevents it from being another run-of-the-mill horror slasher film. It has beautiful shots of the Texas countryside that add to the anxiety of the film by providing it with a sense of isolation. X stays true to its 70s backdrop. This is vital because there was a time during the Sexual Revolution in which pornography was seen as a potential launching pad for stardom and mainstream crossover. The consistency with the era reinforces this idea by making it even more believable within the film.

Martin Henderson gives a good performance as Wayne. He stays ambiguous; never going fully sleazy but maintaining just a bit of potential unsavoriness that will make you question if you should sign anything that he hands you. Mia Goth, however, is probably the standout. She plays a dual role as Maxine and Pearl, doing great as both. Maxine is clearly troubled and seems to be running from something, which that something is revealed in the end. Mia Goth never goes full bad girl but rather plays Maxine as someone with baggage who believes it can be put down once she achieves her dreams. This is a common sentiment for many people dealing with some level of trauma or resentment. She’s a multi-faceted character and your atypical Final Girl.