Is X woke?

No political or woke messaging whatsoever. Focuses entirely on story, characters, fun, or escapism.

Wokeness Analysis

X (2022), directed by Ti West, is a throwback slasher horror film set in 1979 rural Texas, focusing on a group of young filmmakers shooting an adult film on an elderly couple's farm, only to face brutal slaughter. The movie delivers unapologetic exploitation cinema with explicit nudity, graphic gore, and tension-building suspense, prioritizing entertainment and genre thrills over any ideological agenda. Themes center on aging, sexual desire, repression, and generational envy, portrayed through the lens of horror tropes rather than progressive lecturing. The elderly hosts, driven by frustrated lust and religious undertones, voyeuristically envy the youthful cast's freedom, but this serves the plot's psycho-biddy homage to 1970s slashers like Texas Chain Saw Massacre, not a critique of conservatism. Diversity exists organically—Jenna Ortega as Latina actress Mia, Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi) as Black actor Jackson—but characters are not defined by identity; they are fodder for kills in classic slasher fashion, with men dying first, subverting puritan punishment tropes without preaching sex-positivity or empowerment. Reviews praise its respectful depiction of nudity and sex without moral judgment, rejecting conservative slasher norms where promiscuity is penalized. No forced representation, indoctrination, or social justice messaging dominates; instead, it revels in sleaze, violence, and meta-commentary on filmmaking and porn versus horror. Conservative audiences appreciate its anti-repression stance as fun rebellion against prudes, not woke activism. The film's success lies in visceral scares and Mia Goth's dual performance, offering pure escapism amid modern media's preachiness.

Plot

In 1979 Texas, ambitious porn starlet Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) joins producer boyfriend Wayne (Martin Henderson), director RJ (Owen Campbell), his girlfriend Lorraine (Brittany Snow), actress Bobby-Lynne (Jenna Ortega), and actor Jackson (Scott Mescudi) to shoot an adult film on a remote farm owned by reclusive elderly couple Pearl (Mia Goth) and Howard (Stephen Ure). Amid steamy shoots and interpersonal tensions, the hosts' repressed desires erupt into voyeurism and murderous rage, turning the property into a slaughterhouse. The cast fights gruesomely for survival in a bloody clash of youth versus decay, culminating in shocking twists. Ti West's homage to 1970s slashers blends slow-burn suspense, inventive kills, and meta filmmaking commentary, highlighted by Goth's chilling dual role.