Release date: March 18, 2022 (USA)
Director: Ti West
Distributed by: A24
Last year, around Halloween, I found X on TikTok. What caught my attention was the film's aesthetics. The premise of X is that a group of actors rent a sketchy house in rural Texas to make an "adult" film without the property owner's knowledge. The practically senile hosts greet them with immediate hostility. When the hosts catch the group in the act, things turn deadly. Honestly, I quite like the premise of this film. In my opinion, it’s pretty original. I enjoy how the film plays into the contrast between young and old. One of the property owners, Pearl (played by Mia Goth), is jealous of Maxine, a member of the group of actors. I like that Mia Goth plays both Pearl and Maxine. In this one, Goth completely stole the show. She truly is versatile, and this film made me a huge fan of hers.
X
Speaking of acting, the rest of the cast was incredible too. Jenna Ortega’s portrayal of a shy girl giving in to her desires (when she asks to partake in the adult film) is great. Additionally, her final scream in the film will leave a lasting impression on me. Who knew she could scream like that? Also, I didn’t know that Kid Cudi could act! He was fantastic. I also loved his character, Jackson. When Pearl starts terrorizing the group members, her husband, Howard, leaves the house to go find her. Jackson runs into him, saying that he’d help. Although the group members were all nice people, Howard and Pearl, who had grown older, viewed them as villains. Even though Howard ended up killing Jackson, it was still pleasing to see him being so kind.
This film's cinematography and slashing were excellent. The color palette perfectly complemented the 1979 aesthetic. Also, I am not a huge fan of gore, but this movie had the perfect amount, in my opinion. Some other horror fans may not agree with me, though. I think Ti West did a fantastic job of making things eerie while not being overly grotesque. The reds and blues during certain scenes, paired with the soundtrack, truly made this an enjoyable watch.
Overall, I loved this movie. Everything was perfect. I appreciate how the characters were fleshed out, so when some of them were murdered, I was genuinely upset. Ortega and Goth stole the show, but everyone was still great. The costumes were on point, the music was great, the cinematography and foreshadowing left me speechless, etc, etc! I also loved Pearl, the prequel to this movie. I can’t wait for the third and final movie in the trilogy, Maxxxine, to come out in July!