Ti West’s “X” exposes viewers to the horror within

Warning: contains spoilers

A viewer watches “X”. [Photo by Lauren Schmidt]

A24’s “X” hit theaters this March, marking the triumphant return of director Ti West to the horror genre after almost a decade long hiatus. “X” follows an amateur porn crew shooting on a rural Texas farm, led by the ambitious RJ (Owen Campbell) who dreams of making adult movies an art form. Not all is as it seems, however, once their elderly hosts catch wind of their activities, resulting in Pearl (Mia Goth) going on a murderous spree as she grapples with her desire to be desirable. 

Despite the star-studded cast, featuring the likes of Jenna Ortega and Kid Cudi, 20-year-old Sophie Van Winkle, a self-confessed lover of the slasher genre, stressed that “although there’s a lot of famous actors, you don’t lose the character to the actor.”

“X” is uniquely modern despite its 1979 setting, particularly because of its subversion of horror tropes. We can see this predominantly with the ‘final girl’, Maxine (Mia Goth), who, as a cocaine-addicted stripper, does not in any way resemble the virginal purity of classic survivors. It seems clear that this puts a feminist twist on the traditional connection between female sexuality and horror, implying that innocence doesn’t make one deserving of survival.

Let’s face it, though, slashers aren’t particularly known for their narrative development, and “X” indeed struggles at times with a shallow plot. This was addressed by 20-year-old Beth Leadley, who noted that the “plot was lacking” throughout the film. 

However, perhaps RJ’s desperation to prioritize the artfulness of the porno, as opposed to the plot, also rings true of “X” itself. Indeed, Van Winkle noted that “A24 did an incredible job with lighting…and cinematography.”

Despite this lack of plot, Leadley said that “the whole film has a feeling of a deeper moral.” Indeed, the true horror of “X” is perhaps less in the violence and gore and more in the realization that we too will grapple with aging as our sexuality persists. In this way, West subverts another horror trope by making us lend our sympathies more so to the perceived villain than the ‘good guy’.

As we watch Pearl stare into the mirror, trying desperately to come to terms with her declining physical form, accompanied by a timely rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’, we realize, personally for the first time, the struggle we may have ourselves as we cope with the relationship between age and sex. 

This theme is only reinforced by the double role of Mia Goth as both Maxine and Pearl, who both very clearly see themselves in each other. In this way, their final showdown perhaps serves more of an end than just a narrative conclusion, but rather a visual representation of the confrontation we all must come to within ourselves. 

Mia Goth as Maxine in ‘X’. [Photo by Lauren Schmidt]

This isn’t the only major theme the movie explores; there are also strong coming of age elements woven through the plot. This mostly is seen through the character of Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), often referred to by the rest of the crew as ‘church mouse’, reflecting her docile innocence and judgmental nature. From this prudish teenager develops a liberal young woman, disregarding the protestations of her boyfriend RJ to become a star of the porno. 

With the highly anticipated prequel, “Pearl”, being rumored for release within the next year, I, and I’m sure many other horror fans, can’t wait to see what else West has in store.