Review: X (2022)

X (2022)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language

Score: 5 out of 5

X, the latest film from Ti West and his first in six years, is a film where my anticipation for it was matched by how far out of my way I had to go to see it. Having recently moved to the small town of Monticello in southeastern Utah (population: 1,969) for work, the theaters near me are not the sort that typically screen A24 horror movies. The nearest theater of any size is half an hour away in Blanding, Utah (population: 3,633), the nearest multiplexes are an hour away in Moab, Utah and Cortez, Colorado, and the nearest theater that was showing this film was two and a half hours away in Grand Junction, Colorado. In short, barring that I'm in a slightly more wholesome occupation than the one that the protagonists of this film are engaged in (indeed, my rulebook says that part of my job involves basically ensuring that the place doesn't turn into Camp Crystal Lake), I'm currently in a situation not unlike their own: in the middle of the desert without a whole lot else to do. So, I got in my car, filled my tank for a little road trip...

...and I was quite impressed. At its heart, this is West's throwback to all manner of vintage slashers and '70s cinema in general, not least of all The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and a certain degree of formula was perhaps baked into the basic setup. It's in the craftsmanship where this really stands out, as well as the notable twists that West puts on the formula even as he otherwise hews closely to it. This is a film with genuinely interesting characters who all had more layers to them beyond just stereotypes, not least of all Mia Goth in an outstanding and daring dual role as both one of the protagonists and (under heavy old age makeup and prosthetics) one of the villains that serves as an incisive commentary on how we treat and value youth and beauty. The aesthetics and cinematography pulled off the same feat of transporting me into the hot, sweaty heart of rural Texas that Tobe Hooper's classic did half a century ago. And if you want blood, boy howdy have you got it here. Forget A24's arthouse "elevated horror" reputation; while this may have a lot of layers to it, this is still a brutal and vicious movie at the end of the day, and one of the most legitimately terrifying slashers I've seen in a long while. This movie brings the pain, and leaves you with quite a bit to think about on the long drive home.

Set in Texas in 1979, our main characters are the cast and crew of a pornographic film, the producer Wayne, the writer/director RJ, the audio technician Lorraine, and the stars Maxine, Bobby-Lynne, and Jackson, who are leaving Houston to spend the night on a remote farm where they can film for cheaper. Right away, we learn a lot about these characters just from how they interact, in ways that felt natural. Bobby-Lynne, for instance, may look like a blonde airhead, but her establishing character moment is when she gives RJ some pointers on how to more effectively shoot a scene, specifically by framing Jackson filling their van's gas tank in such a manner that the nozzle he's holding comes off as phallic. Maxine, the main viewpoint character for most of the movie, is about as far from your typical slasher heroine as you can get, a porn star who's introduced snorting cocaine and probably gets the most nude scenes out of anybody in the entire film. Jackson is a Vietnam vet who still has his physique from the Marines, which he is shown to be extremely proud of, and whose combat experience comes in handy once everything starts going to shit. RJ is a pretentious film brat who's insistent that this stag flick they're making is actually art, a delusion that everybody can see through, not least of all his girlfriend Lorraine, a devout Christian but one chafing at her lifestyle and how she's seen by others as a sexless prude, and the producer Wayne, a sleazeball who knows that he's in the business of getting dicks hard on 42nd Street. Several characters (RJ and Lorraine, Maxine and Wayne, Bobby-Lynne and Jackson) are dating, and the issue of their personal and, uh, professional relationships crossing paths and leading to adultery comes up more than once, especially in the setup to the film's first kill. This film successfully gripped me from early on with characters who felt like actual human beings, the film spending most of the first half of its runtime letting us get to know them as it showed us their lives on the job. I've seen at least one critic call this movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets Boogie Nights, and that's as apt a description as any in how it explores the lives of its main characters before the blood starts spilling, presenting them as flawed but well-rounded humans rather than stereotypes while letting a great cast of both young'uns like Jenna Ortega, "hey, it's that guy!" character actors like Brittany Snow and Martin Henderson, and the musician Kid Cudi (credited here by his real name Scott Mescudi) bring them to life.

And then we get into the villains, Howard and Pearl, the elderly couple renting out their guest house to the porn crew who turn out to have some dark secrets of their own. Pearl especially is the more interesting of the duo, not just because we see more of her but also because she and Maxine are played by the same actor, Mia Goth. Pearl is a woman whose best days are far behind her, and she knows it. We see that, as a young woman, she valued her beauty as one of her most prized possessions, and losing that (likely not just due to old age, if some of the scars we see on her are any indication) did lasting damage to her psyche that drove her into depression, all while her husband's heart problems leave her feeling more alone than ever. Pearl could've easily been presented as just a creepy, horny old hag, but Goth's performance under many layers of prosthetics and makeup gives her a far more tragic side. She's somebody whose need to be loved and desired has been reawakened by the discovery of just what the film crew renting the guest house is actually doing, and whose realization that she won't get to participate drives her to finally snap. Having Goth play both Pearl and Maxine, the unambiguously sexy porn star who spends most of the film in an extremely revealing outfit that just barely covers her breasts, adds an extra layer, with Pearl's twilight years presented as a possible future for Maxine once she starts to age. Maxine may be hot as hell now, but that won't last forever, and Pearl is a symbol of what can happen to people like Maxine in time. In both of her roles, Goth is easily the film's MVP, crafting not just a heroine who breaks all the "final girl" rules such that it was always an open question if she or anyone would survive, but also a villain who serves as her antithesis, barely recognizable as being played by the same person. One of Maxine's defining characteristics is that she wants to be a star, and I'm certain that after this, Goth most certainly will be one.

As should Ti West, a filmmaker who hasn't disappointed me yet. West hearkens back to retro slashers in the film's aesthetics, especially in how it replicates the Texas heat that Tobe Hooper used so effectively in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. (It was filmed in New Zealand, and the fact that I only knew that from looking it up indicates how effectively West pulled off the atmosphere.) More specifically, the film is dripping in a particular late '70s/early '80s grindhouse sleaze, in which the violence is as graphic as we all remember the "video nasties" of that time being, opening with a man getting stabbed in the neck 23 times (I counted) such that his head is barely hanging on and just barely letting up from there. Pearl's interactions in particular lend a twisted psychosexual element to the proceedings, especially in her interactions with Maxine, whose beauty she idolizes in a seeming recognition that Maxine looks like a younger version of herself. And even though Howard is pretty clearly a supporting antagonist compared to Pearl, the old man still lends an intimidating presence from the moment we're introduced to him pointing a shotgun at Wayne thinking he's a solicitor. This is a movie where the tension is continuously ratcheted up, the brutality unflinching as everything from a pitchfork to an ornery alligator is used or teased as a murder weapon.

The Bottom Line

X is a hell of a movie, one that I'm certain I'll be naming as one of my favorites of the year when all is said and done. A vicious and terrifying film with a lot on its mind, it's a perfect demonstration that A24's arthouse style lends itself just as well to the more graphic and aggressive kind of horror as it does to their slower-paced and more cerebral films. If you like old-school slashers and don't mind a whole lot of nudity and gore, make this one your ticket.