X (2022)

In 1979, police arrive at a Texas farm and find several bodies. Twenty-four hours earlier, aspiring adult film star Maxine, her producer boyfriend Wayne, performers Bobby-Lynne and Jackson, director RJ and his girlfriend Lorraine arrive at the farm of an elderly couple, Howard and Pearl, to shoot a film in the guesthouse.

Pearl becomes fixated on Maxine, who reminds her of her younger self. She secretly watches the filming and imagines herself in Maxine's place, but Howard rejects her advances, saying his heart is too weak. That night, RJ tries to leave, upset that Lorraine joined the shoot. Pearl approaches him, and when he rejects her, she stabs him to death.

Pearl kills Wayne with a pitchfork in the barn. Howard locks Lorraine in the basement, where she finds a hanging corpse, and shoots Jackson by the lake. Pearl climbs naked into bed beside Maxine, who wakes up screaming. Pearl pushes Bobby-Lynne into the lake, where an alligator kills her.

Maxine frees Lorraine, but Howard shoots Lorraine as she runs. When her body twitches, Howard has a fatal heart attack. Pearl shoots at Maxine, but the recoil knocks her down and breaks her hip. As Pearl shouts insults, Maxine reverses Howard's truck over her head and drives away.

A television broadcast reveals that Maxine is the daughter of the preacher heard throughout the film. The police find RJ's camera, and the sheriff comments that it holds "one goddamn fucked-up horror picture".

Who survives X? Only Maxine. She escapes after killing Pearl.

Why does Pearl kill? She is consumed by jealousy and resentment of youth, beauty and sexual freedom, which she feels she has lost.

Why does Mia Goth play both Maxine and Pearl? To show that Maxine and Pearl are mirror images: one young and hungry for fame, the other old and bitter.

Who is the preacher on TV? Maxine's father, a televangelist, revealed in the final scene.

What comes next? Pearl (2022) tells Pearl's story as a young woman, and MaXXXine (2024) follows Maxine to Hollywood.