There is nothing quite as old school in Hollywood as a secretive, concealed plot. It’s been a go-to tactic to drum up hype for horrors in the past (remember Cloverfield?) and seems to have worked for the latest A24 movie too. For a long-time X had a mysterious presence on the 2022 movie calendar, with us knowing nothing but its cast, director and the fact the cult studio was behind it. Now, it’s been a reported that a prequel film was secretly shot at the same time and is currently in post-production.
X is directed by Ti West, an American filmmaker with a prolific back catalogue of B-movie horrors, most famously his 2011 ghost story The Innkeepers, and 2014’s The Sacrament, a horror film in which two Vice journalists help find their co-worker after she flees home to join a religious cult. They both racked up a handful of awards at festivals like Toronto Film Festival and SXSW. More recently, he’s been roped in to direct episodes of TV horror shows like The Exorcist. X marks his first crossover with A24, and was shot in New Zealand last spring. Also involved is Euphoria showrunner Sam Levinson, who this time will be taking on an Executive Producer role.
The first film’s unveiled plot line is as follows: “In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas. But then, their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act. The cast soon find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.” One particularly ominous scene in the trailer shows the geriatric housebound grandma in bed with Mia Goth, creepily stroking her leg.
The plot to the prequel film has not yet been revealed, however we know it was also filmed in New Zealand at the same location and is also written and directed by Ti West. Mia Goth — who plays the star of the adult film the team set out to make and we assume will be the movie’s final girl — will reprise her role in the prequel. There has been no word yet on whether other’s of her X castmates will also feature (Brittany Snow of John Tucker Must Die and Pitch Perfect fame, You and Scream’s Jenna Ortega, Scott ‘Kid Cudi’ Mescudi, Martin Henderson from Grey’s Anatomy and Owen Campbell from The Miseducation of Cameron Post).
For those left fucked up by movies like Hereditary/any horror where pensioners play the antagonists, this 70s porn-horror cross, and its secret upcoming prequel, will be right up your street when the first instalment hits cinemas on 18 March 2022.
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