X
“To independent cinema!”
I don’t think there’s ever been a movie that feels more made for me than this one. The idea of the symbiotic relationship between horror and pornography (as stated by Ti West in a newsletter by A24) being represented by the title, X, which was typically given to horror and adult films, being made into a movie is such a cool concept and I’m so happy with how they pulled it off.
There’s also a thick meta layer added to the mix, with one character trying to make a “good dirty picture” where he’s “trying to be experimental with the editing”. The editing in this movie teeters on the line of being bearable and pretentious, but walks it with such confidence that it works perfectly with the film.
Also, going back to why I think this movie was made specifically with me in mind, is the entire religious subplot. A lot of movies that try to squeeze in religion end up falling on their face or overstuffing itself, but I thought it really worked and I really hope it is explored more in Pearl as well.
Overall I think this is the best movie of the year so far, and it’ll probably be hard for another movie to beat this. It was funny, it was violent, it had naked old women, and some of my favorite horror movie deaths of all time. I will probably see it a few more times. I really need to get to Ti West’s other films now holy shit.