X

X is a 2022 American slasher film written, directed, produced and edited by Ti West. It stars Mia Goth in dual roles: a young woman named Maxine, and an elderly woman named Pearl. The film also stars Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure and Scott Mescudi appearing in supporting roles. The film follows a cast and crew who gather to make a pornographic film on an elderly couple's rural Texas property, but find themselves threatened by the homicidal couple. Filmed in New Zealand, production for X took place in the Manawatū, primarily in Fordell, near Whanganui. The score was composed by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe, who collaborated to create a soundtrack with emphasis on vocals and synthesizers. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 13, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 18, 2022, by A24. It received positive reviews, with critics praising its homages to twentieth-century slasher films, particularly 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and the performances of Goth, Snow and Ortega. X is the first in a film series of the same name, consisting of a prequel film titled Pearl released on September 16, 2022, and a sequel titled MaXXXine in development. Plot In 1979, police officers arrive on a desolate farm in rural Texas and find numerous dead bodies wrapped in bags. They enter the farmhouse and find something shocking in the basement.