It's not so bad. Which means, it’s not so good either. Actually, when I saw the film, I couldn't help but thinking it showcased an exploitation film. That is, let’s put it this way. It is using sexual material of a graphic nature in telling a story that is horror. Now, it is not the first time this is done, but it does feel like the adult content overpowers the scary scenarios. It is quite difficult to tell whether it succeeds because. Okay, let us start from the beginning.  

X (2022) was written and directed by Ti West. A group of youngsters are trying to make a name for themselves. Casting and filming adult movies is their forte. We have the cast of Maxine (Mia Goth) and Bobby Lyne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson (Kid Cudi) to form the crew and the director RJ (Owen Campbell) and his girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) who happens to be the producer's Theiss. fade out paris commerciales. They are all packed in a van for a road trip looking for a backwater location to shoot. They find it in the home of an elderly couple who seem to be extremely disapproving of them.

In the case of this film, it does seem to be tearing apart the audience with the plot device of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s pornographic film crew subplot as exploitation. But, I do have one thing to say in defense. In horror films, the idea of the young group with raunchy thoughts is already the excuse to show nudity. At least here, for better or worse, the reasoning does feel rather less hypocritical.  

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Being as raunchy as this film can be, it is not an adult film. Sooner or later, some bloodthirsty thing starts tracking down the young cast and crew and it doesn’t take long to get violent. The film does seem to play into the cliche of the final girl being the most innocent version of the character, which we are meant to believe is Lorraine. This assumption does turn out to be wrong thanks to the existence of Maxine who appears to be the most innocent one. Maxine’s confrontation with elderly woman Pearl (also played by Mia Goth) hints at something more, which naturally led to a prequel film.

Is it effective? Sort of. It is connecting the larger narrative with Mia Goth (both of her characters), so it feels more like a film made for her to showcase her talent. On the other hand as far as horror films go, it pays some respects to the classics, but doesn’t feel like it does anything innovative for the rest of the genre. It does soften the blow of the actual killer, which will not fit the rest of the story until you understand this is building up to a larger world. The world building, however, is based on a very cringe view of elderly people which is intended to be scary or cringe inducing so the bad aftertaste is inevitable.  

What I do want highlighted are the dream sequences, which is where the film reaches its most visually creative. When these dreams end, the film enters a state of boredom that’s so monotonous I was close to checking out. There’s a slight upwards second wind in late third (or fourth) act where Paul is trying to scrape together the pieces of his life. The film finishes with a dream, which is set up throughout but doesn’t feel earned by the character.

Slightly encouraged with some limitations. It has some good and bad aspects, and is not completely forgettable. Even though it does not add anything fresh, it does try to honor what it aims to achieve. Whether being vulgar intentionally was a nod to exploitation or simply a cheap shot does not matter as much as the fact that it feels somewhat candid. This is only worth watching if you intend to watch the prequel or sequels for context.