History Film / X2022

''X'' was officially released on March 18, 2022, by Creator/{{A24}}, under a week after its [=SXSW=] premiere. At the festival, West revealed a prequel to the film titled ''Film/{{Pearl}}'' was already in post-production, [[MovieMultipack shot back-to-back]] with the film and centering around the elderly woman of the couple in her younger years. The film was released on September 16, 2022. Three days before that, West and A24 announced a full sequel titled ''Film/{{MaXXXine}}'', once again starring Mia Goth as Maxine seeking to make it as an actress in [[TheEighties 1985]] Hollywood, which will premiere in July 2024.

* DeusExMachina: [[LampshadeHanging Acknowledged]]. [[spoiler:When Pearl pulls the trigger on the shotgun, she misses Maxine completely despite the short distance. Immediately after this happens, the preacher on TV talks about a [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane divine intervention]]. That said, this is {{justified}} since Pearl never demonstrated any particular expertise in using firearms and was completely unable to control the recoil.]]

''X'' was officially released on March 18, 2022, by Creator/{{A24}}, under a week after its [=SXSW=] premiere. At the festival, West revealed a prequel to the film titled ''Film/{{Pearl}}'' was already in post-production, [[MovieMultipack shot back-to-back]] with the film and centering around the elderly woman of the couple in her younger years. The film was released on September 16, 2022. Three days before that, West and A24 announced a full sequel titled ''Film/{{MaXXXine}}'', once again starring Mia Goth as Maxine seeking to make it as an actress in [[TheEighties 1985]] Hollywood.

** Wayne tells Howard that he's eyeing up Maxine because "he's never seen anything like her before". Howard's wife Pearl ''is'' elderly, but both are played by Creator/MiaGoth.

''X'' is a 2022 [[SlasherMovie slasher film]] written and directed by Ti West (''Film/TheInnkeepers'', ''Film/InAValleyOfViolence'', ''Film/TheHouseOfTheDevil'') and starring Creator/MiaGoth, Creator/JennaOrtega, [[Music/KidCudi Scott Mescudi]], Creator/MartinHenderson, and Creator/BrittanySnow.

*** [[spoiler:Howard]] states that he doesn't have sex because of his heart condition. [[spoiler:Thus, after he and Pearl have sex, it is not surprising when he dies from a heart attack shortly after. Earlier, Wayne states he hasn'ttold the couple that they're here to make a dirty movie, because "don't want to give him a heart attack."]]

** Even RJ [[PetTheDog took the time to gently try to comfort what appeared to be a confused old lady and help her back into her home]] despite being in the midst of an attempt to abandon his girlfriend and the group out of spite, doing very little to restrain or chastise Pearl despite his obvious discomfort with her advances, which [[spoiler:he would pay for with his life]].

** To ''Film/{{The Texas Chain Saw Massacre|1974}}''. Both are 1970s-set slasher films set over [[DaylightHorror a beautiful summer's day]] and a night about a group of young people in rural Texas who venture into a rural farmhouse only to learn that the people inside are vicious. It gets a specific ShoutOut in the scene of Bobby-Lynne walking slowly towards the house from the swing. [[spoiler:The appearance of a man-eating crocodile also recalls ''Chain Saw'' director Creator/TobeHooper's following film, ''Film/EatenAlive1976''.]]

* FedToTheBeast: [[spoiler:Bobby-Lynne]]’s kill, where [[spoiler:Pearl kicks her in the lake knowing an alligator is below.]]

* MaleFrontalNudity: RJ seems to focus his camera on Jackson's face during the sex scenes, so we get very little, but brief flashes of it do occur.
** Most notably, when Howard shows up at the farmhouse, Jackson answers the door fully nude, and a silhouette of his (almost comically long) penis can be seen.

* SeriousWorkComedicScene: This is a mostly serious horror movie with several moment of dark comedy, such as [[spoiler: Pearl firing a shotgun and getting blasted out the open door behind her by the recoil.]]

* TooDumbToLive: As a young black man living in 1979, Jackson is lured into the swamp by an old white man with a shotgun who angrily confronts him and accuses him of seducing his wife, and yet he's taken completely by surprise when the old man [[spoiler:promptly shoots him]]. You'd expect that every single aspect of this scenario would put him on edge.

** The "X" letter also can be used as a symbol of a junction or crossroads. Fitting, as ''X'' is the chronological center of a film trilogy, and is the point where parallel characters Maxine and Pearl meet and affect each other's stories. The other two films being called ''Pearl'' and ''[=MaXXXine=]''' reinforces the title ''X'' as a junction and pairing between the two characters.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: For one petter, the ''X'' has many facets as applies to the film.

* NotTheFirstVictim: We've already seen Pearl kill [[spoiler:RJ]], before Howard persuades Lorraine to go down in the basement and finds an earlier victim strung up in there. It's confirmed that ''he'' wasn't their first, either.

* PsychosexualHorror: In this movie, a group of actors and a small film crew embark on a road trip through Texas to shoot a pornographic film titled "The Farmer's Daughters" for the booming theatrical porn market. In this film, the theme of existential horror is expressed through the fear of getting older, wasting years, and the sexual frustration over no longer being sexually active or sexually desirable. In the movie, the antagonists are intensely envious of the group for being young and sexually desirable in a different, more progressive time, and getting opportunities that they themselves never had during their own youth.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title ''X'' references both the adults-only X rating of the early days of the MPAA, and how Wayne keeps telling Maxine she has "the X factor" when she asks if he thinks she can be a big star. The "X" letter also can be used as a symbol of a junction or crossroads, and "X" is the chronological center of a film trilogy and is the film that unites the stories of the parallel characters Pearl and Maxine.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: An intentional example as part of the film's {{Deconstruction}} of slashers. Ti West and Mia Goth have stated that ''X'' was meant to show stereotypical slasher archetypes as complex and sympathetic people rather than disposable assholes, so their deaths would actually be meaningful.

''X'' was officially released on March 18, 2022, by Creator/{{A24}}, under a week after its [=SXSW=] premiere. At the festival, West revealed a prequel to the film titled ''Film/{{Pearl}}'' was already in post-production, [[MovieMultipack shot back-to-back]] with the film and centering around the elderly woman of the couple in her younger years. The film was released on September 16, 2022. Three days before that, Ti West and A24 announced a full sequel titled ''Film/{{MaXXXine}}'', once again starring Mia Goth as Maxine seeking to make it as an actress in [[TheEighties 1985]] Hollywood.

* BatDeduction: Hilariously subverted when the police investigate the crime scene and one of them asks the sheriff what he thinks happened, possibly setting up a classic instance of this trope where the cop deduces the exact events that unfolded. Due to the weirdness of the scene, however, the sheriff simply asks, “How the fuck would I know?”

** Bobby-Lynne runs to Pearl and wraps her in a blanket, trying to guide her inside [[spoiler:before being pushed into the lake and eaten by a crocodile.]] However, she gives up immediately beforehand when Pearl slaps her and calls her a whore.

** Jackson volunteers to search for Pearl so that Howard won't have to do it, [[spoiler:and then gets shot by Howard for his trouble.]]