This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
You Oughta Be In Pictures
Plot Overview
Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is “an
effing sex symbol” according to her manager/boyfriend Wayne
(Martin Henderson) after they complete their gig at Bayou Burlesque
in Houston. It is 1979, on the cusp of the home video explosion, and
they're headed to a rented country cottage away from prying eyes where
they plan to shoot a sexy moneymaker: “The Farmer's
Daughters.” Howard (Stephen Ure) the old farmer who owns the
place is a suspicious coot who doesn't much like the looks of them
and tells them so to their face. Their male porn star Jackson (Kid
Cudi) is an ex-marine who fingers his dog tags next to his black skin.
When Howard throws back at him his saying, “Once a marine, always
a marine,” we figure he's not limiting his sentiments to the
U.S. M Corps. Texas did not ratify the 13th, 14th
& 15th amendments abolishing slavery until they were forced to
by their Yankee occupiers. He who is persuaded against his will
is of the same opinion still. His cottage rental is Civil War
vintage as is the voyeuristic woodcut depicted below, made
after a drawing by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (German
painter, 1794–1872) from his archive, published in 1877. It concerns
the three sons of Noah, (Gen. 9:18-19)
“And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and
Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons
of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.”
The alternate image text by licensor
iStock.com/Getty Images explains what happened to Noah after fermenting
some grapes: “When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and
uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan,
saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside.
Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it on their shoulders.
Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father's
nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see
their father's nakedness (Genesis 9:21-23).” When Noah woke
up, he blessed as a pair the lines of his two respectful sons (Gen. 9:24-27) and cursed Ham's
line—Ham paired with his youngest son Canaan—with
servitude to the other two brothers'. The descendants of Ham's oldest
son Cush (Gen. 10:6,) Cush meaning black in Hebrew, settled
in Africa, some to become in later years African-American slaves. The whole
Bible Belt of the south believe/d this way and some in the north, too,
especially the oldsters. That has not changed with the times.
In his younger days Howard a serviceman
married beautiful dancing girl Pearl (Mia Goth) who is now too old
to cut the rug and her husband too afflicted to service her. She's
jealous of the youngsters in the cabin over yonder and “she
gets confused at night.” Howard, however, gets confused
even in the day and tends to treat his paying tenants as hostile invaders.
The movie quickly devolves into a slasher cum monster film.
Ideology
Playing throughout the whole movie from a B&W television set in the big house is a hard hitting televangelist (Simon Prast) whose message somewhat resembles Job's comforter Bildad's in the oldest book of the Bible. (Job 8:4-7) “If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression; If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” I've heard lots of preaching against sin and it tends to be expansive covering a lot of needful territory, but this preacher focuses all his energy on sexual sin leading one to suppose it's personal, that some family member(s) or other has succumbed to the sex trade, which occupies his mind exclusively. That works out well in this movie as it occurs while the porn crew is doing what he's dead set against.
(Job 8:8-10) “For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?” The old farmer has to watch out for his wife who likes to sneak a peek at the action, which sets her off. For that matter Jackson's forebear Ham was too brazen viewing his dishabille father Noah, which led to his progeny being put into servitude to Shem & Japheth's, which in turn led to America's Civil War when the northern abolitionists didn't like it.
(Job 8:11-14) “Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.” “The Farmer's Daughters” director RJ (Owen Campbell)'s girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) was their in-house prude who was there as gaffer to her cinemagraphically ambitious boyfriend filming his “smut” but later wanted to take a more active role (“I want to do a scene in the movie.”) She's young now, but do you know how quickly such “talent” perishes?
(Job 8:15-18) “He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden. His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones. If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.” Even porn stars like Maxine are here one day, gone the next and nobody remembers them anymore.
(Job 8:19-22) “Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow. Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.” It's better to be tight with the message of the evangelist, not with the dead end of porn fame.
Production Values
“” (2022) was written and directed by Ti West using a very workable minimalist approach to a sometimes overwrought horror genre. It stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, and Martin Henderson. Goth is cast in dual roles as youthful Maxine and aged Pearl. She pulled off both without a hitch. The whole cast was fantastic. A folksy tune by Chelsea Wolfe added a touch of musical to the picture.
This R rated movie was titled X in reference to the former classification system under which an adult film would be so classified. This is a technically well-made picture. There's a prequel to it called “Pearl” that plays after the end credits.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
I found this movie to be engaging and better than expected. It didn't overplay the T&A aspect, but we did know the crew was doing smut and from the televangelist (“Resist the devil”) that it was wrong. The swamp monster was patient in contradistinction to a fidgety actress. It had an historical as well as a southern country ambiance. It ended well, though not for most everybody in it.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Suspense: Don't watch this movie alone. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Overall movie rating: Five stars out of five.
Work Cited
Quoted scripture is taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software, print.
bibles.n7nz.org