Ti West's 2011 film The Innkeepers is a solid, beautifully shot story about a haunted hotel, and horror fans could tell that his 2022 movie X would be something to talk about. Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson Hole (Kid Cudi), and Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) are starring in an adult movie, with Wayne Gilroy (Martin Henderson) as producer and RJ Nichols as director. The innocent and young Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) is RJ's girlfriend who has come to help out, but she starts realizing that she might want to play a greater role than she thought at first.
When the characters rent out a guesthouse on the property of an older couple, they notice that something isn't quite right, and an incredibly smart and chilling horror movie is the result. The movie has messages about getting older, the beauty of youth, and becoming comfortable with one's sexuality. There are a lot of lessons that horror filmmakers can learn from Ti West's amazing film X.
Lean Into The Setting
X is a horror movie with a great setting as the characters rent a farmhouse in Texas. The movie is shot in an incredibly intelligent, careful, and thoughtful way. The movie shows that leaning into a setting and really letting audiences enjoy it is the best way to tell a terrifying story. In this case, the camera pans across the country landscape, allowing fans to see the fading paint on the main house, the creepy old porch, the grass surrounding the place, and the nearby lake that is full of alligators just waiting to pray on humans.
Owen Campbell's character RJ makes a comment about shooting an adult movie like a real movie, and in the same way, Ti West proves that horror movies should be shot just as artistically as dramas and Oscar-worthy biographical films.
Whether Maxine is going for a walk in jean overalls and boots or visiting the scary older woman Pearl (also played by Mia Goth) next door, the movie doesn't let up for a second. There is always the feeling that something bad will happen, a smart exploration of how Maxine is thought to be a "sinner" by her religious parents for becoming an adult film actress.
Don't Forget To Build Suspense
Pet Sematary (1989) can be considered the scariest Stephen King movie because it builds suspense the entire time, and Ti West does the same thing with X. When Pearl invites Maxine in for a glass of lemonade and then comes close to her and touches her body, Maxine is terrified and so are audiences, wondering what's going to happen now.
One of the most horrifying scenes is when Lorraine gets stuck in the basement of Pearl and Howard (Stephen Ure)'s house and sees a dead body hanging nearby. Lorraine tries to get out and she loses some fingers in the process and ultimately her life when Howard shoots her as she walks out the front door. This is a super suspenseful and smart part of the movie as audiences can't look away for a single second, knowing that evil and death are coming for this sweet and innocent character. X was an anticipated 2022 horror movie and anyone who has seen it knows that it's a particularly impressive feat of storytelling.
Surprising Deaths
Once X really gets going, the story is fast-paced and the characters start dying off pretty quickly. These deaths are some of the most creative in the horror genre and rival the death sequences in Final Destination. Pearl murders RJ when he won't sleep with her and kills Martin by sticking him in the eye with a pitchfork, and Pearl makes sure that Bobby-Lynne meets a tragic demise when she pushes her into the lake and Bobby-Lynne is eaten by an alligator (a particularly shocking scene).
Pearl's motivation is crystal clear: she is depressed that she has aged and that she doesn't look the way that she did in the past, and all she wants is for Howard to have sex with her and look at her the way that he once did. When she tries to seduce the other characters and they aren't interested, she's fine with killing them. This is truly chilling.
One Character To Root For
Jenna Ortega has become a 2022 horror movie star and after doing an incredible job as Tara Carpenter in Scream (2022), she excites horror fans with her role in X. While the other characters are detailed, interesting and important to the story, especially Bobby-Lynne who explains that they aren't afraid to admit that they enjoy sex, it's hard not to feel that Lorraine steals the whole movie.
While audiences don't want anyone in the group to die and it's clear from the start that Pearl and Howard are the villains, it's especially sad watching Lorraine get locked in the basement and then get shot and killed. Lorraine embodies just what audiences want to see: a character staying strong and unafraid to show others who she is. While her relationship with RJ isn't explored very deeply, audiences can see that he's upset that she wants to be in the adult film, and it's clear that she's too independent and strong for him.
Overall, Ti West proves that he's an incredibly talented filmmaker with X, and the prequel Pearl, which was recently announced, is sure to be just as fascinating.