A24 is continuing to gift audiences with original films that range in genres. However, their newest horror horror movie, X, is one that begs serious discussion. The film contains numerous nods to horror’s past. It also contains elements that we very much see in horror films of today. Nevertheless, what A24 and X’s director Ti West are trying to show with a film like this is that the past and present can be combined in a way that is creating a new path for the future of the genre.
Going into a film like X, it is to be expected there will be blood-splattering excitement and some strong sexual content. While there is much of both, what is built around those elements makes this film truly unique. There is a large amount of self-awareness to the movie as well, which makes it intellectual while keeping its characters attachable.
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Brittany Snow’s character Bobbi utters a remark towards the director of their adult film production, who is trying to enhance the genre. She tells him (in a more graphic way) that their audience is just there to see bare skin and raw entertainment. This ironic and self-conscious sentiment is a winking nod to the film itself; we are going into X expecting nothing but violence and to see all these movie characters die in horrific ways. But X is so much more than that, and this eye to eye contact with the audience is just one of many nods.
Ti West’s History of Horror
A24
There are numerous nods to horror’s past in X. Throughout Ti West’s movie career, the director has shown that he is a lover of 70s-style filmmaking, and X is no exception. Long takes and vintage style cinematography is a fairly obvious note right from the opening sequence. The opening sequence itself is a representation of Hitchcock’s understanding of suspense; the famous director stated in an interview with AFI:
Ti West gives the audience just enough information to create suspense in the first scene of his film. Law enforcement survey the crime scene of a seemingly brutal display of violence. We don’t see everything, but just enough to establish that tension which heightens throughout the entire film.
“[Suspense] is essentially an emotional process. Therefore, you can only get the suspense element going by giving the audience information.”
X also has physical nods to past horror classics. The element of having a group of young individuals embark on a getaway to a secluded location (for whatever reason) has been seen in more horror films than one can count. The Evil Dead, The Shining, Alien, The Descent, and more recently Midsommar, all contain a single location where characters become strangers in a strange land with even stranger folk. The film also is very streamlined and narratively takes place in one day.
However, X mirrors one of the most important horror movies, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in a way that is more apparent than the aforementioned. This rural setting is quite colorful during the day, but at night becomes as dark and empty as an abyss; it taps into the older mores and customs of an older family faced with the ‘modern’ ideas of youth. There is also a large lake near the farmhouses which closely resembles that of Friday the 13th, where both films seem to have a monster lurking in the waters.
Another physical nod to horror’s past is seen towards the end of the film. A car is seen submerged into the water, which was put there by the antagonists themselves. This is a familiar Easter egg to that of Norman Bates in the classic film Psycho. A final visual nod is a bathtub overhead shot which closely resembles the infamous sequence in Requiem for a Dream, where characters in both films are at their breaking point before everything spirals downward from that moment onward.
A Mirror Image in X
The film uses mirrors both physically and metaphorically. Protagonist Maxine (played by Mia Goth) frequently looks at herself in the mirror and speaks to herself. These words of affirmation are meant to gather her emotions and brave the world ahead. The quote most notably repeated from her is crucial to the film’s future.
Maxine is a forward-looking, aspiring star about to shoot an adult film with an entire crew. She believes this to be her one chance to break out of her life, which has not been very lucrative up until this point. Her motives are clear, and she has a chance to make her future bright. However, there is an interesting dichotomy with the elderly antagonist Pearl.
Maxine: “I will not accept a life I do not deserve.”
Pearl is also played by Mia Goth, who delivered a chilling performance while layered in amazing prosthetics. Pearl also stares into the mirror, and instead of looking forward, her motives are to reattach to the past. Her days of excitement and pleasure are far behind her, but it drives her towards Maxine in an unsettling way. Maxine sees what her future could be, and Pearl sees what her past could have been. In each other, they see (and fear) the same person. Maxine utters the same line she has said to herself towards Pearl, who is ultimately herself.
Ti West has created a battle between the past and the future, good and evil, waged entirely in the metaphorical register. Again, he gives us just enough information to allow the suspense to tingle through the senses. By submerging the intellectual content in metaphor through the visceral artifice of horror movies, West is able to create one of the most bizarre mainstream movies to appear in recent history.
A Growing Story
Ti West’s understanding of modern horror is just as notable as his knowledge of the past. Today, we are exposed to franchises and sequels beyond the scope of superheroes. Franchises are growing everywhere, even in horror, with the expanding universe of The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity, Halloween, and so many others. Ti West has apparently already filmed a prequel to X, and it is simply titled Pearl.
The film, expected later in 2022, is a prequel to this film and centers on the antagonist and how her life led her on a murderous path. West leaves just enough questions towards the conclusion of X that a continuing storyline is crucial to understanding the events of the former. He seems to have a meticulously laid out plan that is strictly based on story purposes, and not monetary gain. Who else would make a prequel to a horror film by focusing on an older woman’s youthful years?
The Jump Scare
The jump scare is sometimes overused in horror flicks, however, they can be a useful tool to alleviate some tension. The point of a jump scare is to let the audience breathe for a short period of time before the next sequence, creating more fright after a build-up without terror. But what West accomplishes here is a jump scare that is not executed with loud noises or birds flying past the frameline. His jump scares are evoked by the audience’s own emotions. Sometimes throughout the film, a character may run into another or someone’s arm might reach and tap another on the shoulder. What is usually accompanied by a loud noise or a fake-out scare is met with nothing but silence in X.
Horror director John Carpenter is a genius at silent jump scare execution, and it was what made the original Halloween so effective. Ti West took a page right out of Carpenter’s book and let the audience have their own reactions to tension that slowly builds throughout the film. When he wants us to be scared, he’ll surely let us know, but we as the audience are on his terms. When those typical sounding jump scares come (and there are a few), they are meant to scare the life out of us… and does so stride.
The Future of Horror
What X has done, along with many of A24’s horror movies, is create a new style of the genre. One that combines cliché with the avant-garde, and old-school artistry with modern technology. With the brilliant special effects we have today, films can relay a level of realism never seen before. But that is not enough. Plot elements, character development and suspense are what made X one of the best horror movies of the decade so far, and it could create a template for future films as well. While we have seen the basic foundation of this film dozens of times, it is the editing choices and the visual presentation that makes it fresh.
