I’ve recently become obsessed with everything Mia Goth (seriously, when did she have a kid with Shia LaBeouf?), so I was eager to watch X. It stars Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, and Jenna Ortega, and I honestly don’t know how I didn’t watch this sooner. From the very start, the semi-truck hitting the cow sets the perfect tone. The trucker shoveling the guts off the highway, and the van driving over it, creates this cruel yet comedic carelessness that sticks with you.
The movie cuts to the chase and breaks the fourth wall, giving the people what they want. The eerie, mystical score is so fitting, and I loved the flashes in between scenes. Mia Goth in the pond has to be one of the most beautiful shots in all of horror.
The line “There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for me back then” sticks with me, setting up a lot of what comes next. When Maxine is having sex, you can feel the older woman’s envy and desire to be her. She is truly the X-factor of the film. The old woman has this childlike curiosity and helplessness about her. The juxtaposition between Goth’s character and the old woman—drinking lemonade while the adultery happens in the barn—is masterful. There’s a deep complexity in these characters, and the tension between them is palpable.
The old woman is “too old to fuck,” and her rejection leads to a violent obsession with being desired. Her perversions, along with her desire to be wanted, are what ultimately drive her actions. When she kills, she dances—returning to what she used to be best at, reclaiming her identity and youth in the only way she knows how.
Then, the film actually starts to get scary. It’s creepy because the horror isn’t reliant on supernatural powers or physical strength. This woman is simply a vengeful, desperate force.
X balances jump scares, eerie tension, gore, sexuality, and art beautifully. It’s a film that should be studied. A woman obsessed with Maxine, and the constant tension between perverse fantasies, desire, and identity are all explored in ways that feel fresh and profound.
Overall, X is an intense, multi-layered film, blending horror, eroticism, and character-driven drama. It’s a wild ride that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.
