X

 

Director: Ti West
Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn
Running Time: 106 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)  

At first glance, it may not be obviously apparent just how straightforward a slasher Ti West's X is, as he does an admirable job making it play like some kind of meta genre deconstruction and throwback ode to 70's horror. You'd be hard pressed to find a recent film more enamored with the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, at least in terms of plot and setting. And that's where the similarities end. Despite looking great and carrying a specific authenticity steeped in the era, when it ends you can't help but shrug. Utilizing everything short of John Larroquette's opening narration to pay homage to TCM, you instead realize after a promising start this comes closer to matching the quality of its derided sequels and prequels than the genuine article. 

The film's saving grace is a really interesting idea that isn't mined enough, carried by a star-making performance that's probably worth the admission price alone, Moving at a glacial pace, it lacks suspense, isn't exactly "scary" and leads where you'd expect. Part of the problem might be the amount of time spent on the making of the intentionally bad pornographic movie within a movie, with the drawn out scenes slowly draining the life out of the actual story. And yet it's still easy to see why West would feel compelled to craft a prequel centered around its best character, especially considering the astonishing talent of his lead actress. Far from unwatchable or poorly made, X is a ride, albeit a more disappointingly shallow one than expected given its promising premise.

It's 1979 and aspiring pornographic actress Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) joins her producer boyfriend Wayne (Martin Henderson), actors Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson Hole (Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi), and director RJ (Owen Campbell) with girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) for a road trip to Texas to shoot their adult film, The Farmer's Daughters. Upon arriving at the guest house Wayne negotiated to rent from the farm's elderly owners Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearl (Goth), the crew is met with immediate hostility and skepticism by the married couple. And that's even before they find out what they're filming in there. 

As RJ's lofty ambitions to direct an important work of cinematic art are derailed by tensions within the cast, Pearl silently stalks Maxine, becoming increasingly jealous and sexually aroused by the actress's  youth and vitality. Those feelings soon extend to everyone else, with this old, frail woman going on an unhinged rampage to extract revenge on those she thinks are living lives that should still be hers. Tragedy and bloodshed ensues, as it becomes a battle of wills to see who will be able to make it out of this farm house alive. 

West gets more than a few things right, at least making it partially understandable how this has garnered acclaim comparable to some of A24's previous horror outings, most of which are superior. If nothing else, it looks and feels like the late 1970's, with a strong soundtrack, wardrobe and production choices that believably invoke the mood of the period. And the opening half hour successfully introduces all the characters while setting up an intriguing if overly familiar scenario that has you eagerly anticipating what follows. 

The deliberate pacing hints that maybe West has taken a page out of the original TCM playbook by slowly building suspense until the actual carnage. But at some point the script just loses its way, becoming so engulfed in the filming of this porno that the narrative hits a wall and never quite recovers. You'd figure if nothing else worked, at least the fictitious adult film scenes would grab attention, but they're actually kind of a bore until a conflict within the ranks splinters everyone off in different directions and the massacre starts. 

An elderly woman going on a killing rampage to recapture her glory days from a much younger generation is a different concept ripe for further exploration. The framework's also there to invoke genuine empathy, but before you know it we've descended into a series of graphic kills played for the kind of self referential visual gags found in any contemporary slasher, only better filmed. But what's most frustrating is how in between that West pauses for these meditative moments and beautiful shots, suggesting a complexity that lurks beneath the story's surface, struggling to escape.

Mia Goth's a revelation as both the free-spirted, coke-snorting Maxine and murderous Pearl, completely unrecognizable under heavy prosthetics as the latter, with every movement and mannerism leaving no doubt we're watching a woman nearing her end, desperately clinging to a past that can't again be revisited, even vicariously through Maxine. West just eventually turns her into a killing machine, but Goth brings humanity to a handful of scenes where she's afforded that opportunity. As Maxine, she's equally effective, carrying this story on her back as an aspiring starlet marching to the beat of her own drum, conveying this odd mix of strength, vulnerability and ethereal quirkiness that's already earned the actress comparisons to the great Shelley Duvall. That feels accurate, as does a future filled with roles even better than this.

Scream's Jenna Ortega extends her horror streak as the shy, introspective Lorraine, who eventually takes steps steps to bust out of her churchgoing shell, much to boyfriend RJ's displeasure. Brittany Snow is saddled with silliness, Kid Cudi does well with a fairly underwritten part, and Henderson and Campbell fulfill what's required of them as the somewhat sleazy older producer boyfriend and film geek director. But of everyone, it's Goth's magnetic screen presence that stands out the most.

There is a clever ending twist and the fountain of youth themes West plays with do land, at least up until a last act that doesn't really match the tone of anything that preceded it. As strange as it seems, the best news to come out of this is its prequel Pearl should likely give Goth her own showcase to fill in the character's blanks, possibly making this effort more tolerable on a rewatch. But for now, labeling X an unpleasant, messy experience will have to be the best backhanded compliment it'll get.