X (2022) – 3/5

Entertaining enough, you get what you came for

„X“ is a co-production between the United States and Canada that resulted in this really new 2022 English-language horror film. It runs for slightly over 100 minutes and I see this made it into the imdb top10 on the MOVIEmeter, so surely a big success and it was even higher, almost top5, the previous week. I got to watch this film on the occasion of a recurring horror event series at a local cinema and thought I’d share my thoughts with you now. Don’t expect a great deal of structure. First of all, you could wonder what the title is about. It does not get any shorter than this. There is talk about one character having the so-called x-factor that separates her from the rest. Then again, if you triple the title, you will get a completely different meaning, namely „sex“ that also fits in terms of the film’s contents. I will get to that later on. The writer and director here is Ti West. He has been pretty prolific in the last 20 years with short films, full feature films and, most recently, television episodes, but this movie here has a really realistic shot at becoming his most known and most seen work so far. Maybe even his best. I see people (especially critics) liked the outcome, some even a lot, so we can be curious if he will move on to other genres in the future. Hollywood stuff. There has been a lot of focus on horror for him so far and like it happens so often with filmmakers from this genre, he also worked in many other production departments of his releases. As for the cast, the most known member you see on the photo here is Mia Goth, mostly thanks to her work with Lars von Trier and she is divorced from Shia Labeouf now, but still became a mom recently. Oh well, it is their private stuff, but I guess certain characters in this film would not like something like that too much either. Other cast members in here you may have come across in The Ring, Pitch Perfect, Need for Speed or the new Scream movie. One of them is maybe even more known as a musician than actor. Kid Cudi I mean of course.

This is a film that fits the description of film on film. We have a gang of relatively young people who in the year 1979 plan on shooting an adult film inside a farm house they rented for this occasion. Of course, without telling the old owners about their intentions. The first meeting there is pretty heated already when the old man forgot who they are there and is ready to shoot the film’s producer. Eventually it deescalates, but it is a bit of foreshadowing to everything that happens during one fateful night later on. That night is pretty much the violent center of the movie. Before that, a lot is implied and there is a great deal of tension, like also with the alligator that almost catches Goth’s character without her realizing one bit, but not a lot of violence. We find out about the group mechanics, about the relationships the characters have with each other. I guess if you are a heterosexual male or homosexual female or just bisexual, you will certainly have a soft spot for one of the females in this film. There’s a blonde who is a bit stuck-up, Goth’s character, who is a self-confident brunette with big ambitions and finally the girl who is just an assistant with the microphone initially. The church mouse as she is called by another character repeatedly, but she also discovers some darkness inside her when she (not too unexpectedly) wants to act in the film as well. The brief initial conversation between church mouse and the blonde girl is also among the more comedic moments this film has to offer. I think it was „yeah, sometimes“ what the girls replied in different contexts when being asked about their boyfriends. It sure is about the comedy here and there. Martin Henderson also gets in a solid amount. He reminded me a bit of Bradley Cooper and I mean that in the most positive way as I am not too big on Cooper. Like when he shows up only in his underwear on one occasion and tries to help another character in finding her boyfriend, it was a bit on the funny side. Also when he starts his little speech inside the barn it was funny how they made him look so experienced in life. That life was not meant to go on for much longer. What he steps on is bad enough already, but what happens later on is even worse.

The guys get it way before the girls in here. You could even think that two of the girls maybe make it out alive in the end, but eventually it is just Goth’s character. No surprise. She’s the star. The other one with the dark hair, her actress is really, really young, was trapped in the cellar. Another horror film tradition and when she manages to almost get out, her captor is there to make sure she stays down. I found her reaction a bit exaggerated when Goth’s character comes to help her, but maybe it was meant like this to depict the escalation that finally led to her death in that scene. And after all, after what she saw down there, it feels kinda justified to go full panic mode. With the adult film aspect in this film, you will also see a lot of nudity of course, some sex scenes, but it is never an adult film or so like the one they are shooting in this film. There is even a reference to another classic in terms of success they want to match with when one character mentions Debbie Does Dallas. Oh and the nerdy guy from the gang also gets in some comedy when he keeps talking about the artistic approach to his work and how he sees himself as much more than a porn crew member. A bit of a running gag. He was also if you want to call it that maybe the least superficial member from the gang. Surely a bit naive too and eventually it costs him and he is killed first. So yeah, you get to see nudity, but also West plays a bit with the audience there as if you want the young ones, you also have to sit through a sex scene between the old folks and Goth’s character is right under the bed to witness it first-hand before she tries to get out. Then again, now I saw that Goth played the female there too, so a double performance. The older woman she portrays here will also get her own film apparently set back many decades in the past and West and Goth already worked on that one, so X will not stay the only film with these characters. Or of course only with the young characters, but Pearl/Goth will be back eventually.

Okay, what else can be said about this one? I quite liked the farm setting, also that there are not too many characters and of course the number decreases as the film goes on. They had to get in the crocodiles as well after those did not succeed in getting their food on the first occasion. Really nice way to film it from up above, at that point still in broad sunlight. The death scenes are indeed pretty graphic with all the blood splattering. Not a film for the young ones. Bit it feels realistic, so all is good and how it should be. There is also solid depth to the characters and actually a bit of a touching story linked to the old ones, like how the old guy struggles with accepting the fact that he cannot satisfy his partner’s lust anymore. Well, you see what happens when he goes for it in the end. At the same time, he develops some kind of hatred against the young people that come to his place and makes them fully responsible for enticing his wife. Take the gunpoint situation I mentioned already, but also when he is there with them and does not stare at one character because she turned him on, or at least not primarily, but because he just despises her so much. And also all the others. Early on, I thought it was just the old dame killing people, but he gets his share too pretty quickly. Oh yes, I must totally mention additional comedy moments. Most of all, the preacher you see on television. That was some really smart and interesting inclusion how he elaborates there and what he has to say exactly and how it sometimes fits the context of the film. Nicely done for sure. Also how his tape is still running when the police show up in the end. By the way, did the old lady die too then? I think she only broke her hip initially, but no clue when they got there and found them.

Anyway, this Black police officer was a riot too. Already at the very start, but also at the end when he has no clue what sick events may have happened there at the farm. Or actually his very last words, the very final words of the film I am talking about: They were basically directed at the audience and this is where they created a parallel between the movie the young people were trying to make and the movie we were watching. Something really negative to say about this film? Maybe that we did not get to see Jenna Ortega during the act. Okay sorry, I know it is not an adult film. As for graphic moments, it is not just violence. Also look at cocaine (ab)use for example on two or three occasions. But nothing like that felt for the sake of it, so it is really nice. The quote that went basically like something how you should not live a life you do not deserve, but aim for something better instead was also one I liked and we heard it on a few occasions. The context or how the characters used it may have been a bit absurd, but the message behind it all is something I definitely approve of. Okay, this is it then. I am glad I watched this film and also glad that the room was pretty packed, actually so packed that they showed it a second time starting 20 minutes later for everybody who did not manage to get tickets for the initial showing. This is a film that deserves to be seen. And I think it will be, so it’s all fine. Never dragged, which is good for a film as close to two hours as it is to the 90-minute mark. There is no hesitation at all for me in deciding that I give the outcome a thumbs-up here, maybe also because there are no supernatural elements, even if admittedly real greatness I also witnessed too rarely to say that this is close to a must-see. It is just a decent horror flick that will entertain you well from beginning to end I am sure.