X (2022) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)

X is everything you expect as you go from sex scenes to watching people get mutilated and then find yourself immensely uncomfortable.

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Director(s)	Ti West
Screenplay By	Ti West
Date Released	3/17/2022
Where To Watch	In Theaters
Genre(s)	Comedy, Horror, Young Adult, Historical
Duration	1 Hour and 45 Minutes
Content Rating	Rated R
Noted Cast
Wayne	Martin Henderson
RJ	Owen Campbell
Maxine	Mia Goth
Bobby-Lynne	Brittany Snow
Jackson	Kid Cudi
Lorraine	Jenna Ortega
Howard	Stephen Ure
Pearl	Mia Goth

Film Summary

Outside the city of Houston, in 1979, Wayne, alongside filmmaker RJ, hope to make the kind of adult film that transcends the smut genre and, as home video explodes, becomes every person’s dirty little tape. The film’s name: The Farmer’s Daughters, stars Wayne’s girlfriend Maxine, a stripper from the Bayou Burlesque named Bobby-Lynne, and a professional sex worker named Jackson. Together, alongside RJ’s girlfriend, who handles sound, Lorraine, they plan to make history.

However, with them lying to a man named Howard about what they are doing in his boarding house and Howard’s wife Pearl not all there, someone will surely get f***ed. But it might be more f***ed up than just the word itself.

Things To Note

• Reason(s) for Film Rating: Cursing (Yup), Violence (Human and animals visibly mutilated, gun violence, stabbing, and getting stabbed in the eye and foot), Sexual Content (Male and female frontal and back nudity, as well as simulated sexual situations), Miscellaneous (Smoking and drinking)
• There is an after-credits scene which potentially is just a joke or could be a hint at what could come next from this franchise

Character Descriptions

Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.

Wayne

Wayne is the producer of The Farmer’s Daughters and has been working in the sex industry for years, mainly since he’d rather let others work and make money than pick up a hammer and do labor himself. But he isn’t a pimp. Yes, he left his wife for someone who probably is barely 18, but he doesn’t exploit people. He just is looking to make a buck, and Maxine’s dreams come true.

RJ

RJ is an up-and-coming filmmaker with a love for French films and doesn’t mind making a smut film since this allows him to gain experience and get to watch porn on someone else’s dime.

Maxine

Wayne’s girlfriend Maxine just wants to be a star, and even if she has to have sex on camera, she doesn’t care. She just believes she deserves more than what her daddy gave her, and with Wayne promising that, he is her man.

Bobby-Lynne

Probably the only one who makes any money at Wayne’s strip club, Bobby-Lynne is just as much a star in The Farmer’s Daughters as Maxine. But, while a sex worker now, after helping her nana in the past, there was a time when being a nurse was something Bobby-Lynne wanted to pursue.

Jackson

A former marine who now is a professional sex worker, Jackson is the only man in Wayne and RJ’s film. Which, with his mid-calf dangler, he might be the only one RJ and Wayne needed.

Lorraine

Lorraine assists RJ with the movie when it comes to holding the boom mic and moving equipment around. However, the more she sees, the more she gets interested, even to the point of potentially being in the movie.

Howard

A veteran of World War One and two, Howard rents out a nice-looking shack on his land for extra money and tries to look after his wife Pearl the best he can. This can sometimes be hard for with her not being satisfied sexually or with life, she often wanders and tries to interact with guests.

Pearl

When Howard met Pearl before the war, she was a dancer who thought she’d be something. However, her dreams were never realized, and her beauty eventually faded. Thus leaving her envious of the young women who come around and sometimes lustful regarding the men she sees.

Review

Highlights

Sometimes Wondering What Was Intentionally or Unintentionally Funny

There are many moments when you clearly are supposed to laugh, be it Wayne, trying to calm down RJ, who is flipping out over Lorraine wanting to film a sex scene, Bobby-Lynne deflating Jackson’s ego, or some of the one-liners Pearl mutters. However, there are also moments that feel like the joke wasn’t well planned or written, and things just happened. Mainly with Pearl, but sometimes because of Wayne as well.

The Occasional Moment When It Is Jarringly Violent

For a good portion of the movie, most of the violence you’ll be able to handle. Be it someone getting shot, dead cows ripped apart, people who have clearly been tortured, and the rest of the usual imagery in horror films. However, there will be moments that catch you off guard or leave you squirming because you know something will happen.

A prime example is Wayne stepping on a nail barefoot. At first, you think he’ll miss it because it seems obvious, but when he puts his foot down, your face will contort. Heck, as I write this, my face is contorting, and like some form of stigmata, a part of me can imagine that nail penetrating my foot. That’s how a lot of the violent moments may affect you beyond the expected.

How Uncomfortable It Gets During The Latter Half Of The Movie

Keep an eye on Pearl. It’s really her that takes this film to the next level for watching Kid Kudi, Brittany Snow, Jenna Ortega, or Mia Goth either in sex scenes or the prelude to it, that’s all tame. When things get interesting is when Pearl is looking to have sex, including with Howard, and you’re left with your mouth gaping, eyes blaring, and feeling very uncomfortable. Like the worst kind of voyeur.

But even beyond the sex, the violence Pearl inflicts? Because of how she comes off in the trailer and how Howard talks about her, you won’t expect anything she does or has done.

On The Fence

The Story & Characters Are Good Enough

I’ll say this: Each character you’ll get to know enough so that if they were lined up, you could say this person is so and so, and you could say a few things about them. Now, as for the story overall? Maybe even character development beyond a tidbit? X isn’t focused on that. It gives you enough to get invested but isn’t trying to create twists, turns, sob stories, etc. It just wants you to enjoy a horror movie with sex, violence, some comedic moments, and lots of gore.

Overall

Our Rating: Positive (Worth Seeing)

X is self-aware in the sense of it knowing what you want. You want violence, creepy villains, a handful of sex scenes, and something to talk about. For each aspect, X delivers, and while I wouldn’t say it has replay value, it is the kind of film you’ll say people have to see, especially just to hear their reaction to Pearl.

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