X (2022)

A lurid, slow-burn slasher that weaponizes aging, desire, and voyeurism into something deeply uncomfortable and unexpectedly sad.

Release Date: March 18, 2022 (U.S. theatrical)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Rating: R for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic sexual content, nudity, and language.
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 94% • Audience 76%
Metacritic: Critics 80 • User 6.5
Letterboxd: 3.4 / 5
EncoreCraft Score: 82 / 100
Where to Watch: View current streaming availability on JustWatch

EncoreCraft Breakdown (0–10)

• Rewatch Value: 7 / 10
• Scare Factor: 7 / 10
• Performances: 8 / 10
• Violence and Disturbance: 8 / 10
• Pacing: 7 / 10

Synopsis

Dust hangs in the air as a van rattles down a rural Texas road in 1979, its engine groaning under the weight of cables, cameras, and expectation. A small film crew arrives at a secluded farm hoping to cash in on loosened morals and a shifting cultural moment. The property sits far from town, hemmed in by fields that trap heat and sound, making every footstep feel exposed. Their elderly hosts greet them with careful politeness, smiles held a fraction too long, eyes that linger when they should look away. Even before filming begins, the stillness presses in.

What starts as a straightforward transaction slowly turns intimate and unsettling. Boundaries soften under the sun, and curiosity slides toward something more personal as glances linger and silences stretch. Distance becomes its own threat, with miles of empty road turning escape into an abstract idea. Politeness keeps everyone from naming the discomfort, even as it sharpens. By the time unease hardens into fear, the danger is close enough to feel its breath.

Spoiler-Free Review

Time stretches in X, the kind that makes sweat bead and silence feel loud. The farmhouse creaks, cicadas scream from the fields, and scenes run just long enough to force attention onto where people stand and how they watch one another. Nothing rushes, but nothing feels indulgent either. That patience becomes the film’s primary weapon, daring the audience to mistake calm for safety. When tension builds, it does so through proximity rather than shock.

Mia Goth anchors the film with a performance built from physical detail. Her posture shifts subtly depending on who is watching, and curiosity slowly tightens into something more guarded. Dialogue matters less than how she moves through rooms and claims space. You feel the line between observing and participating erode in real time. That erosion gives the film its quiet power.

The horror arrives in fragments rather than bursts. Lingering looks, awkward silences, and moments of unwanted closeness do most of the work before violence ever appears. When it does break through, it feels ugly and intrusive, puncturing the calm instead of replacing it. Its 82 EncoreCraft Score reflects a film less interested in body counts than in discomfort, using patience and proximity to make the experience linger.

Craft Notes & Background (Non-Spoiler)

• The film was shot in New Zealand, standing in for rural Texas.
• Mia Goth portrays two roles in the film, requiring extensive makeup and prosthetic work.
• X was conceived as part of a trilogy, with prequel Pearl released later in 2022.
• Director Ti West emphasized practical effects and in-camera techniques over CGI.
• The film premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2022.

⚠️ ⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️ ⚠️

The rest of this review discusses the full plot and ending.

⚠️ ⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️ ⚠️

Full Plot Recap (Spoilers)

The crew arrives joking and optimistic, unloading equipment while sizing up the isolated farm that will serve as their set. As filming begins, Pearl’s attention fixes on the younger performers, her presence felt in doorways and windows. Compliments land oddly, followed by pauses that stretch too long. The mood shifts from awkward to tense without anyone acknowledging the change. Heat and distance keep everyone rooted in place.

Pearl’s longing sharpens into intrusion as she drifts closer, touching shoulders and asking questions that cross unspoken lines. Howard maintains a calm exterior, moving slowly and speaking softly, but his loyalty to Pearl is absolute. The farm becomes a maze of small errands and polite separations. A short walk turns into isolation, and routine tasks become traps. One by one, crew members disappear, their absence masked by distraction.

Violence escalates as Pearl acts on jealousy and resentment, killing those who remind her of what she has lost. Survivors begin to grasp the danger too late, scrambling through fields and hallways that once felt neutral. The confrontation ends brutally, leaving Pearl dead and Maxine as the lone survivor. As Maxine drives away, the radio crackles with a broadcast hinting at her past, reframing survival not as triumph, but as continuation.

Spoiler Analysis

Fear in X corrodes behavior rather than exploding into panic. Pearl reframes each violation as justified, each step small enough to excuse. Intrusion becomes entitlement, and entitlement becomes violence without a clear breaking point. Her movements remain careful even as restraint disappears. That gradual erosion is what makes the horror unsettling.

The film scares through closeness. The camera lingers on faces and bodies, refusing to cut away when discomfort sets in. Sounds carry across rooms, footsteps echo, and off-screen space feels active. By stretching time and limiting relief, anticipation turns into pressure. Violence arrives as consequence rather than spectacle.

The ending denies catharsis. Maxine’s escape is loud and kinetic, yet emotionally hollow, framed by the hum of the engine and the hiss of the radio. Survival does not erase desire or trauma, it merely carries them forward. The structure suggests that wanting attention or youth never fades. It waits, reshaping itself into something dangerous.

Hidden Craft & Story Secrets (Spoilers)

• Pearl’s physical deterioration was designed to visually echo Maxine’s fear of obscurity.
• The final radio broadcast directly sets up narrative elements explored in Pearl (2022).