X

Directed by Ti West, X follows a group of circa 1970s friends, including Mia Goth’s Maxine, Martin Henderon’s Wayne, and Scott Mescudi’s Jackson, as they arrive at a remote farm to shoot an amateur porn movie – with the elderly couple (Goth’s Pearl and Stephen Ure’s Howard) that own said farm perhaps not quite as innocuous as they seem. West, armed with his own screenplay, delivers an exceedingly (and sometimes excessively) deliberate horror film that benefits from its atmospheric sensibilities and roster of top-notch performances, and it’s clear, as well, that the movie boasts an impressively unpredictable narrative that rarely goes where one might’ve initially anticipated – with the perpetually watchable atmosphere heightened by a smattering of tense, appreciatively brutal sequences and interludes. There’s little doubt, however, that X remains unable to wholeheartedly capture and sustain the viewer’s rapt attention, as the picture, to a certain extent, suffers from an arms-length feel that’s exacerbated by the aforementioned pacing issues and, to a lesser extent, the actors’ penchant for mumbling and whispering their way through their dialogue – which, despite an admittedly effective climax, ultimately cements the film’s place as an almost prototypically erratic endeavor from West.

**1/2 out of ****