Main cast: Mia Goth (Maxine Minx, Pearl), Jenna Ortega (Lorraine Day), Martin Henderson (Wayne Gilroy), Brittany Snow (Bobby-Lynne Parker), Owen Campbell (RJ Nichols), Stephen Ure (Howard), and Scott Mescudi (Jackson Hole)
Director: Ti West
Set in 1979, X is about a bunch of people going off to shoot a few scenes for a pornographic film, The Farmer’s Daughters, under the direction of RJ Nichols, who also wrote the script. This bunch of thespians are: Maxine Minx, a dancer in a topless burlesque troupe hoping to make a splash in her adult film debut, her boyfriend Wayne Gilroy that is also conveniently enough the producer of this film, and actors Bobby-Lynne Parker and Jackson Hole along with director RJ’s girlfriend Lorraine.
RJ is under the delusion that he is shooting art, while Lorraine decides that joining in the shoot will be a good way to prove to people that she is not a prude. Yes, she’d show everyone that she doesn’t have a stick up her rear end… by shoving a BBC up her rear end. This is why bringing one’s partner to a film set is never a good idea, I tell you.
Well, it will be nice if these were the extent of these people’s filming woes, but the geriatric owners of the farmhouse that they have rented to do the shooting in are also homicidal nutcases more than happy to add some blood and gore to the proceeding. Yay, the party is only getting started!
This one received wide acclaim when it first came out, and now that I have watched it, I have to concur that it’s a pretty fine thing to watch.
The kills only begin at the one hour mark, and with this movie running at about one hour and 45 minutes, that means a big part of it is just… soap opera on a porn set, let’s just say. However, the whole thing remains very watchable.
While Mia Goth gets top billing here for playing herself and a granny version of herself in really bad make up, but I feel that Brittany Snow actually steals the show with her portrayal of the bubble-headed Bobby-Lynne that hides a pragmatic and sometimes mean streak underneath. There is more depth to this character than Maxine’s somewhat one-dimensional “My parents are Christian fundamentalist preachers so now I’m still rebelling against them by wanting to be rich and famous in the skankiest way possible!” character.
In the meantime, Jenna Ortega’s Lorraine Day is a wet rag of sorts, constantly scowling and pouting, and I wonder whether Ms Ortega is cast because of her ability to put on a massive resting bitch face. I appreciate that Lorraine and Maxine are the same people in many ways, as both are trying to figure out the often confusing and sometimes self-destructive sexual liberation atmosphere of the 1970s, only both are doing it in polar opposite ways.
Martin Henderson is pretty fun to watch as the sleazy Wayne Gilroy, while Owen Campbell is a hoot as the “sensitive” pornographer that seems to genuinely believe that there is art in every work of his, but the ladies are supposed to be the stars here. As a result, their characters tend to be relegated to the back side at times. Poor Scott Mescudi’s character barely has any character development other than he likes his job as Mr BBC in his films.
Once the killings start, the death scenes are satisfying even if they weren’t over the top compared to some other slasher films out there. This is because these scenes are well staged and captured.
Then again, the movie is gorgeous to look at, with solid production values. It captures the seedy yet lovely vibe of the 1970s perfectly, from the fashion to the norms of that decade, and there is something very Quentin Tarantino-esque in how Ti West directed the cast and the crew put everything together. The movie isn’t just set in 1979, it feels like one, even embodies its setting and era as if it were a labor of passion.
I also like how the movie tries to explore sexual boundaries and roles. Pearl, one half of the villainous duo, is very jealous of Maxine’s youth and vitality, and this obsession with the latter also sees her becoming sexually attracted to the younger woman. She wants sex, lots of it, and is frustrated because her husband Howard can’t keep up or even get it up much anymore due to his age and weak heart.
Mind you, this exploration doesn’t fully work due to the female characters being killed off (along with the male ones, of course) and having their arc left incomplete as a result. Also, the fact that these ladies die, and hence in a way punished for being sexy and using their sexuality to make themselves a better life, can run counter to the whole theme of daring to embrace and explore one’s sexuality.
Still, I appreciate that the movie tries to do.
Indeed, X wants to be and succeeds in becoming a little bit more than a standard slasher film, and it does so without coming off as pretentious or disingenuous. All in all, it’s a fun and very satisfying thing to watch, so here’s a well-deserved four oogies.
