X

Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn, Simon Prast
Directed by: Ti West
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller
2022

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of aspiring filmmakers travel to a secluded farm to make an adult film, where they must soon fight for survival against their elderly hosts.

Review:
Tim: I have to say, this is a movie that initially flew under my radar. However, as the months went on, I heard more and more about what Ti West did with X. Finally, I decided I needed to see it. And, I left the movie feeling quite impressed. West doesn't reinvent the genre or even do anything we haven't seen before. What he does accomplish, however, is to direct an exceptionally well made, tightly wound, brutal horror film. X is mostly just your straight slasher horror film- it has all the expected staples- a group of promiscuous young people, isolated in a single location, hunted one-by-one. We've seen all this dozens of times before. However, West elevates the story by his effective direction, realizing just about every ounce of potential in the script. This isn't a great movie, but it's an exceptionally well crafted one.

I thought the story worked, for the most part. The background involves a group of younger people trying to make a top quality adult film. They have a minuscule budget but big dreams. They end up in a secluded farm, the perfect location for their shoot. The elderly owners of the farm seem out of touch and out of date. They obviously can't know about what they are doing. So, there's a element of subterfuge immediately in the story. Shooting a pornography under wraps creates some tension before the horror elements even begin. The horror comes from the elderly farmers. They are beyond bizarre, grotesque even. West leverages a general fear and loathing people have of the elderly to maximum effect. There's a few almost body horror elements that derive from this singular disgust. It's an interesting juxtaposition. There's a great deal of horror and bloodshed, but some of the most memorable, nastiest sequences just involve old people. It's certainly not a story we have often seen.

The cast makes a huge difference here. I've been summarily unimpressed by Mia Goth thus far in her career. I'd previous seen her in three films and her performances were all unremarkable. I'll say that this is by far the best performance of hers I've seen so far. She throws herself completely into this film, giving an unforgettable performance. Goth found a role that leveraged her skills and she emerges as one of the most pleasant surprises in the film. It's kind of a classic horror movie heroine performance. It wasn't enough to change my thoughts about her, but I was impressed. Jenna Ortega was quite good, too. I'd only seen her in 2022's Scream and wasn't overly warm about her performance there. She's much better here. She differentiates herself from the rest of the cast and her vulnerability makes her character unique. There were moments here where it felt like she could truly be a star. It's a smaller supporting role, but Ortega delivers a great performance. Brittany Snow as effective, too. Each of the women in this film are so different- Snow's performance is full of bluster and confidence and demands the audience's attention. I only know Snow from th Pitch Perfect movies and it was fun to see a very different side to her here.

I love that Martin Henderson was cast here. I've long been a big Henderson fan. I think he's a continually underrated actor. He brings a touch of prestige and legitimacy to the film. His performance is as good as we'd expect. He elevates the material. Kid Cudi was pretty decent. I'm not convinced he'll have a long acting career, but his performance surpassed my expectations. I'm open to being wrong about him. As a whole, West pulls together a cast of exciting newcomers and gives them substantial roles that they can make their own. This is a horror film that gets the most out of its cast, which happens far too infrequently.

The film features a lot of horrific moments, but none that feel unnecessarily over-the-top. The kills are about on par with what we've seen in other films, but they do hold their own. They are definitely cringe-inducing and gory. The movie does a nice job of changing up the ways that the various people die. There's few big surprises, but the film executes its story quite well. West keeps the story moving, so I never felt bored throughout the 1 hour, 45 minute runtime.

X was one of the bigger surprises of 2022 for me. We haven't gotten too many of these exceptionally crafted slasher horror films in quite a long time. This film feels like a throwback to the horror films of the 1980s, but absolutely better than 95% of them. West has crafted a film that will likely emerge as a cult classic. It doesn't give quite enough new, but it achieves its goals far better than anyone would have expected. This is one of the better horror films of the last few years.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Pearl, Scream (2022), The Ring