★★★★ (4/5)

The year is 1979; a particularly horny group of kids stumble upon a Texas farmhouse and soon discover its terrifying, gruesome secret. If that’s all you’ve heard about Ti West’s latest horror film X, there’s a huge chance you’ll think you know the story, but allow me to provide some reassurance: you really, really don’t.

Since the late 2000s, Ti West has made a name for himself as a cult filmmaker who isn’t shy about his love for classic genre movies. His breakout feature The House of the Devil was a grotesque play on the “babysitter in peril” trope; for the next seven years, he’d put together an eclectic body of work that subverts some of the most beloved genre conventions—from his haunted house movie in The Innkeepers to his found footage occult thriller The Sacrament, West has established notoriety as one of the more prolific indie filmmakers in modern moviegoing.

After a six-year stint in episodic television, West teamed with A24 to produce X, a retro splatter film that balances smart storytelling, thoughtful character development, and unrestrained madness in what is likely to be remembered as his best, most batshit film to date. While many speculated it to be a reimagining of Tobe Hooper’s pulp classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the writer/director approaches X from a creative angle that upends expectations and pushes the boundaries for taboo in film.

“I wanted to take the trope of sex and violence that is typically lowbrow and try to do something crafty with it. Having never made a slasher movie, which are mostly people getting murdered, I wanted to do something a little unexpected that isn’t just people getting killed.”

Ti West | IndieWire

Sexual promiscuity and bloodshed are the two driving forces of X; since the advent of motion pictures, no subject matter has sparked more controversy than portrayals of sex and violence onscreen. The dynamic of these two fringe topics is at the forefront of the film and reflected through each character from their behaviors to their motivations. The movie takes breaks in building tension to explore themes of artistic expression, sexual independence, and the effects of prolonged repression that bring a surprising amount of depth to this grindhouse tale of depravity.

By pinning the narrative to a group of young, sexually liberated characters shooting porn in a radically conservative setting, Ti West succeeds at making a slasher film with complexity that makes use of the two most scrutinized taboos. “We turn folks on. And that scares them” asserts Bobby-Lynne, played convincingly by Brittany Snow, in a line that accents the self-awareness behind X’s appeal factor.

In an effort to rebel against the stereotype, West employs smart, patient filmmaking that builds tension slowly and cascades to a blood-splattered climax, which imbues the film with an artistry that feels intentionally contrasted to its pulp, low-brow narrative. X is enlivened by great cinematography that transcends any preconceptions of its smut-adjacent subject matter, from its crawling dolly shots that peer into paint-chipped rooms to a stunning crane shot of a character swimming in gator-infested waters.

As our crack bunch of protagonists embark to shoot their meta-porn flick entitled The Farmer’s Daughter, it becomes clear that X’s casting is easily one of its biggest strengths. Each character is fleshed out brilliantly with archetypes that help us identify with their individual personas. A bulk of its commercial awareness surrounds rap mogul Scott Mescudi, who thrives in his role as Jackson Hole, the ex-marine-turned-adult-film-star, which—judging by his name—you can probably guess what much of his role entails.

The newly appointed scream queen Jenna Ortega makes a noteworthy appearance as Lorraine, the quiet girlfriend of the film’s in-world director RJ, played by Owen Campbell. As a couple, RJ and Lorraine represent two different schools of thought when it comes to making pornography: one being a self-serious director who aspires to create art, and one being a prudish production assistant with hidden intrigue for the business. As the film progresses, their bond is tested and their arcs become clearer the further they’re taken into the inferno.

The hardest working member of the cast is Mia Goth, another performer well-suited to wear the title of scream queen after her indelible performances in Suspiria and A Cure for Wellness. She pulls double duty in X as Maxine and Pearl, the film’s two oppositional characters—one being the youthful, ambitious performer and the other being a ghoulish old woman who wanders her husband’s farm. In both roles, Mia nosedives into abject disassociation from what’s generally expected of lead actresses in the modern landscape. Her dueling roles enhance the movie by adding her distinct flavor of intensity as one of the best young character-actors in movies today.

“We spoke at length about the fact that they're very much the same woman. They carry the same essence, they're just at different life stages and the product of different circumstances and life choices ultimately - but their spirit is the same.”

Mia Goth | Screen Rant

Being the genre enthusiast that he is, Ti West knows that horror movies in the American South are well-explored terrain that’ll never get old if executed correctly. And even though X (and its subsequent prequel) is filmed entirely in the rural farmland of Fordell, New Zealand, the production design team gives the film’s setting an unmistakably sun-baked Texan quality, without feeling antique or excessive.

In previous films, West captured the panic of Jonestown in 1978 and the new-wave ambiance of the mid-80s. Time and time again, he’s proven his ability to render 20th-century aesthetics with uncompromising detail which plays a huge factor in why his movies feel so immersive. X plunges audiences into middle-of-nowhere Texas in 1979 with authenticity and precision, shot through vintage anamorphic lenses and faithful set decoration. Its setting is clearly staged and its world built out, from the retro beer cans to the box-frame TVs and the dusty hay-stacked barnyards.

As exemplified by his crafty inclusion of The Fixx in The House of the Devil, music is often used in Ti West’s films to establish its era and undercut the tension. From a musical standpoint, X is the savviest film to date, with a livewire energy that moves freely from scene to scene. Through its winking depiction of groovy pornographic bliss to the sounds of Sexy Eyes or its exploration of an existential crisis through an acoustic performance of Landslide, the infectious energy is largely indebted to the sounds that Ti West employs.

If the logline and rural Texas setting of X rope audiences into a false sense of security, it succeeds in a similar way that Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods toyed with expectations for a “cabin from hell” movie. His tightly wound script helps flip the convention by introducing an unsettling twist that unfolds with an intriguing balance of bloodshed and perverse sentimentality that does more than justify its own existence.

Despite the higher intentions of its subtextual readings, at the end of the day, this movie is one hell of a good time. Total chaos is the name of the game for X and when our protagonists begin to meet their gruesome ends, we can immediately identify that West is a filmmaker who has never sought to reinvent the wheel, just find a creative new way to let it roll. This hard-R hellscape is highly recommended for any viewer who dares to step into Ti West’s twisted slaughterhouse.

NEXT | Under a Crimson Moon: ‘The Night House’ Review