X gon’ give it to ya… wait, that doesn’t work. Umm… X marks the spot? Nonono… Xpertly I crafted a dumb intro before moving onto the review. Nailed it!
Ladies, gents, and non-binaries… “X”.
1979. A group of young, aspiring filmmakers travel to a farm in rural Texas with the intention of using the rustic setting as a backdrop for a porno they plan on making. But as soon as they arrive and begin working (bow chicka bow wow), sinister things start brewing around them. “X” has a distinctly old school feel, hearkening back to a lot of 70s horror, opting for that sort of grungy slow burn tension, with “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” being one of the clearest influences on this. And I think that works pretty well for “X”, it gives its story a vibe that’s been all but lost in today’s movie environment. As for the story in general, I thought it was alright. Nothing bad about it, and I do really appreciate the dark, slightly off-kilter sense of humor that shows up throughout, but in terms of general enjoyment it didn’t do much more than passable enjoyment for me. Like I said, the tone is fun, the slower pace is pretty engaging, and some of the events and reveals I did enjoy. But on the whole I just didn’t love it as much as some others have. It’s a passably enjoyable story for me.
The characters in this are pretty good. Again, not really amongst my favorites ever, but the movie still does a decent enough job of establishing who they all are and finding way to make them fairly likable and decently interesting. The cast is also pretty stacked, containing people like Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Martin Henderson, Kid Cudi, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and a few more, all delivering damn good performances. Mia Goth especially is an absolute standout here, she’s terrific.
The score for the movie was composed by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe, and I think they did a damn good job with it. Low key spooky strings, some synths, piano, occasional choir voices, some droning noises. It has a weirdly old school feel that works really well for the movie and helps build a bit of an unsettling atmosphere. There’s also a handful of licensed songs used throughout, and I think they work well in their respective scenes. There’s one track in particular, which I won’t spoil, but it’s a song I adore, and the way a particular section of it comes crashing in during a certain event is just fucking spectacular, and an absolute standout moment. But yeah, this movie has good music.
“X” was written and directed by Ti West, which sees him making his return to movies since 2016. And I think he did a damn good job with his directing. West has an excellent way of utilizing space to build a bit of tension or add impact to an action, and it’s just done marvelously here. And when combined with Eliot Rockett’s old school, grimy, beautifully blocked/framed cinematography, you get a movie that just oozes charm, grit, and a confidence that is quite fun.
This movie’s been pretty well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 94% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 79/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 6.6/10.
While I don’t really love it like many others seem to, I still enjoyed “X”. It has an okay story, pretty good characters, great performances, really good music, and really good directing/cinematography. Time for my final score. *BOO*. My final score for “X” is a 7.43/10. So while flawed, I’d certainly say that it’s worth renting.
My review of “X” is now completed.
What letter’s the best for cutting down trees? The X.
TheMarckoguy 