Poster © A24. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreHorror, Mystery & Thriller
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 45 mins
ReleasedMarch 18, 2022
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorTi West
StarringMia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson
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X (2022)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| X's Details | |
| Genre | Horror, Mystery & Thriller |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 03/13/2022 (SXSW); 03/18/2022 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Budget | Not reported |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| X's Interests | |
| General | Rural Texas, a beat-up 1970s van, a creaky farmhouse, a lake you should not swim in, big Hollywood dreams. |
| Music | Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe |
| Movies | Pearl (2022). The prequel, secretly filmed right alongside this one. |
| Television | Little House on the Prairie, if the farm had a much darker mood. |
| Heroes | RJ (Owen Campbell), the film nerd determined to turn a cheap shoot into real art. |
| X's Crew | |
| Director | Ti West |
| Writers | Ti West |
| Producers | Ti West, Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Harrison Kreiss |
| Cinematography | Eliot Rockett |
| Music | Tyler Bates, Chelsea Wolfe |
| Edited By | David Kashevaroff, Ti West |
| Production | A24, Little Lamb, Mad Solar Productions |
| Distributed By | A24 |
X makes you wait a long time for the scary part, and the wait is half the fun and half the problem. The first stretch is a crew of hopefuls shooting a cheap movie on a Texas farm, bickering about art and fame, and some of them are written so thin you can see the barn through them. Then night falls and Ti West tightens the screws. Mia Goth is the engine, a would-be star with nothing to lose, and under heavy makeup she also plays Pearl, the old woman watching from the farmhouse window. You’d never guess it was her. Jenna Ortega’s quiet Lorraine is a sneaky highlight. It also leans on aging bodies as the scare, which feels cheap. It made $14.7 million worldwide, and critics gave it 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 6.9 because the craft is sharp and most of the people are names on a call sheet. $16.27 says you drive past the next lonely farmhouse you see at night and don’t slow down to look.
What works: Mia Goth’s fearless double act, a gorgeous grainy look, and Jenna Ortega’s quiet, watchful Lorraine.
What doesn’t: Most of the crew are barely written, and the film leans on aging bodies as its scare, which feels cheap.
Who it’s for: Grown horror fans who like a slow burn and old-school slasher atmosphere.
Spoilers
Pearl and Howard turn on their guests one by one through the night, and only Maxine makes it out, driving away after the old couple are gone. The police arrive the next morning, and a TV preacher heard all through the film turns out to be Maxine’s father.
Texas, 1979. Maxine (Mia Goth) is sure she is going to be a star, and her boyfriend Wayne (Martin Henderson) has a plan to get her there: a cheap movie, shot fast, on a rented farm in the middle of nowhere. Along for the ride are performers Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson (Scott Mescudi), ambitious young director RJ (Owen Campbell) and his quiet girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega). Their hosts, an elderly couple named Howard and Pearl, are not exactly thrilled to have company, and Pearl keeps watching Maxine a little too closely. Ti West directs. One hundred six minutes, one very long night.
Anyone with a full tank of gas and zero interest in farm stays.
| Mia Goth | Maxine Minx / Pearl |
| Jenna Ortega | Lorraine |
| Brittany Snow | Bobby-Lynne |
| Scott Mescudi | Jackson |
| Martin Henderson | Wayne |
| Owen Campbell | RJ |
| Stephen Ure | Howard |
| Simon Prast | a televangelist |
| James Gaylyn | Sheriff Dentler |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +440 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $14.7M; Domestic box office $11.8M; Opening weekend $4.3M; profit note now waits on a budget; Rotten Tomatoes 94%; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 94% (229 reviews); Metacritic 80 / 100; PostTrak audience 68% positive; IMDb users 6.5 / 10 (230,780 votes); movie.guru score 6.7.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.