X
- 2017
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 20 m
- 2017
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 20 m
Summary XX is a new horror anthology with a gender twist - all segments will be helmed by female directors and will star female leads. The directors have been given free creative rein within budget and time constraints, but all of the segments themselves will involve the horror genre.
- 2017
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 20 m
- 2017
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 20 m
XX
64
3.2
Where to Watch
Summary XX is a new horror anthology with a gender twist - all segments will be helmed by female directors and will star female leads. The directors have been given free creative rein within budget and time constraints, but all of the segments themselves will involve the horror genre.
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
64
67% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
33% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
64
67% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
33% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It’s fascinating to observe how the feminine perspectives of XX create four powerfully compelling and original horror tales that operate within the genre while testing the boundaries of traditional storytelling and style.
These shorts follow female protagonists as they wrestle with exclusion and implicit social standards that may or may not extend to their male counterparts.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 43 User Ratings
3.2
9% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
42% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
49% Negative
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 43 User Ratings
3.2
9% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
42% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
49% Negative
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
2017 horror, thriller and mystery movie. The film consists of 4 short stories written and directed by 4 different women. I think the IMDB rating is low. I can say that I liked every episode. Movies make you wonder and it ends with curiosity. Since there are women's stories, the feeling of motherhood is brought to the fore. The stories are in order:
The Box (I think the most interesting part) Birthday Party (Final scene and music are great) Don't Fall (from the most common scenarios) Last Living Son (The pinnacle of maternal emotion)
In addition, the animation in the transition scenes is also very interesting and has a story.
There is no sex or nudity in the movie.
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Although the film industry has made advances for equality, Hollywood is still lacking in female directors. So much so when a female director is lauded, it becomes a thing of note, such as a few years ago when Kathryn Bigalow received her second nomination for director. Horror is a genre that features more female directors than others, despite the public reputation of being unkind in character to women (the truth of is debatable and is a discussion for elsewhere). Bigalow herself is known in horror circles in what I stand as her best film, Near Dark. With that, XX is a horror anthology based around the conceit of each of the four stories and the wraparound is written (in one case adapted from a man’s short story), directed and centered on women as the main characters. In addition, all but one story revolves in some way around motherhood, as each writer/director was given the privilege to make the films they wanted, it is likely a coincidence rather than directed. Before moving into the individual segments: the wraparound is largely wonderfully creepy stop motion animation, reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer. Go look up his thoroughly creepy take on Alice in Wonderland. Do it now. Then come back. THE BOX
“The Box” is directed by Jovanka Vuckovic, former writer and editor for Rue Morgue; the best of the horror magazines. She adapts Jack Ketchum’s short story of the same name. I read it about 12 years ago in his collection Peaceable Kingdom. The story follows a mother as her son and others begin to act strangely after looking inside an odd fellow’s titular item. “The Box” is a strong segment, a good choice to lead off the quartet, quietly building unease as a mother’s world falls apart helped along by cinematographer Ian Anderson sterile, crisp shots. One feels for the mother, as cold as she may often be. Like the other mothers in XX, she’s over her head without knowing how to solve her problem. A worthy segment that might not give answers many will desire but lingers in horror without them.
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
It’s strange the strongest segment is the one directed by a first time filmmaker: Annie Clark, known best at St. Vincent. Although the least horrific of the four, it’s the most entertaining and well designed. Led by Melanie Lynskey as a stressed mother on her daughter’s birthday party who finds an awful surprise she desperately tries to cover it up, “The Birthday Party” (written by Clark and Roxanne Benjamin) is continually darkly hilarious occasionally bumping up against the surreal. The other are often funny as well if you have a pitch black sense of humor like do, but this one is more directly with a delicious punch-line. Clark has a great sense of color and shot choice, highlighting the absurdity of the frazzled Lynskey. Here’s to her continuing to look at directing bigger films. DON’T FALL
The weakest in the bunch – and the only one not based around motherhood- is “Don’t Fall”, written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin. Benjamin was a collaborator in last years great anthology SOUTHBOUND and this segment feels like it could have been a cut segment from that film, finding four stoners on a camping trip. It’s not that it’s bad; it’s just lesser in being a straight forward horror demon/slasher feature with little substance. The scares are well made and Benjamin would do wonders with a full length feature of this type with more time to flesh out the characters and allow suspense to build. HER ONLY LIVING SON
The final segment, as the viewer will find out, is a defacto sequel to a well loved horror product revolving around maternity. The viewer is likely figure this out well before the film gets there. Nonetheless, writer-director Karyn Kusama (last year’s top five horror film The Invitation, 2010’s underrated Jennifer’s Body) gives a mother lost in dealing with a son with issues, issues bigger than them both. While there is a creep factor, something lacks. The short feels small, like it needed to go one step bigger. Together, the four segments create a solid, if not a little lacking, anthology of three mothers and a demon (Sundays this fall on NBC). With each portion coming it about 20 minutes, they move through quickly; perhaps leaving each with more to tell, but still worthy. The lesser segments still have interest and quality within them, making XX worth your 80 minutes. GRADE: B-
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I’d rather see these shorts included in a co-ed anthology, which would allow each director’s piece to gain resonance via proximity to works of shared themes. Still, if it takes segregating the sexes to climb up to gender parity, I can overlook a slightly mismatched directing combo.
The four participating directors were all given complete creative freedom for their films, limited only by budget and running time. The fact that three of them have to do with motherhood is a coincidence, a thematic near-miss that’s emblematic of the film’s main disjointed weakness.
XX feels unusually frustrating in its inconsistency, given its inspired premise.
XX plays with and pushes back against certain tropes at its very best, yet never truly breaks much new ground.
XX is a horror anthology more admirable for its intent and concept than for its execution.
The best short film in this anthology is The Box, which is based on a Jack Ketchum story and is the only story to have decent acting as well as an oppressive and tense atmosphere. The segue between the stories is a Dark Fantasy stop-motion animation, which is haunting in itself. The other stories in the anthology just aren't in the same class.
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The thing separating this from other horror anthology films is the fact that each segment was helmed by female directors. I applaud the concept as it gives women another chance to step forward in a scene populated mostly by males. However, the end results are woefully disappointing. The only constraints given to the women in creating their stories were of the budget and time variety. It's the latter I feel that hindered this project so much. Of the four short stories, it is the first two that suffer. "The Box" is simply nonsensical and ultimately very disappointing. It's only real noteworthy feature is that the mother and father seemed to have switched roles. The father is the more caring and worried of the two parents, while the mother seems more aloof to the strange things her children are doing. It's an interesting and much appreciated change in gender roles that breaks away from typical stereotypes. Outside of that one smart move the story as a whole is lacking.
"The Birthday Party" is just dumb. A ridiculous and misguided attempt at adding some zany humor to the mix. It's stylistic choices are irritating and, aside from the ending gag, not funny. Easily the weakest part of the anthology and feels out of place amongst the other three films present here.
"Don't Fall" is my personal favorite as it is easily the most entertaining of the bunch. It's a pretty standard set up of watching dumb stoners go where they shouldn't and pay the price. Pretty much your straight forward gore-fest. Nothing revolutionary or new about it. Having a female director ends up making no difference here. Same stuff as the guys would have come up with. Not like that's a big deal though. The biggest flaw is that it's over in a jiffy.
"Her Only Living Son" is easily the strongest part of this anthology. Like "The Box" and "The Birthday Party," it's primarily about motherhood. However, unlike those two that is actually significant here. It ends up being a touching tale about the bond between a mother and her child. One that tugs at the heartstrings a bit. You really feel the presence of a woman behind the camera here. It also helps that it's Karyn Kusama, a lady who has proved her skills as a director of the horror genre with the excellent film "The Invitation." A great way to close the anthology.
So about half of the anthology ****. Where XX really goes wrong though is in it's inability to make viewers feel a woman's touch for all but the last of the shorts. It hardly feels any different than the work of men doing the same thing. Maybe that was the point. Still, it's disappointing to not see any new perspectives brought on by this gender swap. Especially when the material here isn't all that great to begin with.
5.1/10
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XX is an inconsistent anthology horror film. The stories just didn't captivate me enough, they're fine but underwhelming. The Box was my favorite and if it stayed as good as that we may have had something but there is a gradual fall off. Just average. C
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Pretty, pretty, pretty bad. Only worth seeing for Angela Trimbur. The Birthday, in particular was awful. Third and the forth installments are watchable. Very confused by the high metascore. If you're looking for a new horror anthology to spend some time with just rewatch V/H/S/ and V/H/S 2.
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Unbelievably bad horror anthology. The stories range from underdeveloped at best, to unwatchably incompetent at worst. If you feel like watching this, the first two stories are notably weaker than the last two, the third is unremarkable, and well, the last one is the second best to the third. The second one isn’t even a horror story, and is some of the most grossly inept filmmaking I have ever seen. Shockingly bad that anyone would fund this.
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Production Company
Snowfort Pictures,
Scythia Films,
Soapbox Films,
XYZ Films
Release Date Feb 17, 2017
Duration 1 h 20 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline Four deadly tales by four killer women
Website
https://www.facebook.com/xxfilm
Awards
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
• 1 Nomination
