XX

Name: XX
Genre: Horror
Released: February 17, 2017
Duration: 80 min
Rating: 64

2017

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 42 Ratings

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3.1	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 42 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnet Releasing | Release Date: February 17, 2017 | Not Rated

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.

Director: Jennifer Chambers Lynch and Jovanka Vuckovic and Karyn Kusama and Mary Harron and Roxanne Benjamin and Sofìa Carrillo and St. Vincent

Genre(s): Horror

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 80 min

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Critic Reviews

Katie Walsh

Feb 16, 2017

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. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

Feb 14, 2017

These shorts follow female protagonists as they wrestle with exclusion and implicit social standards that may or may not extend to their male counterparts. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Feb 16, 2017

The results offer a collective shiver (not a lot of shrieks here) for those in the mood for sprightly, short-form misfortune. Read full review

Katie Rife

Feb 15, 2017

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. Read full review

Peter Keough

Mar 2, 2017

The creepiest part of XX, a quartet of short horror films by women, might be the Jan Svankmejer-like stop-action segments between each of them. Sofia Carrillo’s animated antique dolls and little furniture walking on stilt-like legs are the stuff of nightmares. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Christy Lemire

Feb 17, 2017

XX feels unusually frustrating in its inconsistency, given its inspired premise. Read full review

Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

Jan 29, 2017

XX is a horror anthology more admirable for its intent and concept than for its execution. Read full review

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User Reviews

AGeekNamedBob

Feb 20, 2017

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 thatAlthough 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-… Expand

1 of 7 users found this helpful16

S1r-R34l

Mar 9, 2017

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 otherThe 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.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TheQuietGamer

Oct 3, 2017

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 onlyThe 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 sucks. 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… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

AdamCatalyst

Oct 24, 2020

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 theUnbelievably 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MattBrady99

Aug 1, 2017

"XX" is one of the most embarrassing piece of **** I've seen this year. Never have I been so bored and yet dumbfounded of how clunky the film making is.

This is another anthology film, but it's too bad nothing connects to each other. Only thing in common is that it's horror. But here's the"XX" is one of the most embarrassing piece of **** I've seen this year. Never have I been so bored and yet dumbfounded of how clunky the film making is.

This is another anthology film, but it's too bad nothing connects to each other. Only thing in common is that it's horror. But here's the thing, the movie can't decide what it's trying to be interns of tone. Couldn't tell if it's a black comedy or a horror film. If the answer is both then the film failed hard, because those clash of tones mix with poor film making hurt the movie badly. One segment you get something super serious, but then the next segment is so goofy and silly, it's like I'm watching a different movie.

The segments themselves are not scary or creepy. And what is up with that stop-motion animation. Literately one of the most pointless things in any horror movie ever, as it doesn't add anything, just trying so hard to be creepy.

Not surprising when I found out that some of the directors have never made a movie before or don't really care for the horror genre. Four directors are involved with each segments and all of it was flat.

Doesn't help they got some of the worst actors to star in this "film". The acting was so bad and the dialogue didn't help. There's a scene in the short "The Box", where this father is yelling at his son at the dinner table was so hilarious.

I can't believe this is getting good reviews, as I question if I watched the same movie. There's nothing good.

Overall Rating: It's **** and you shouldn't see it. End of story.… Expand

5 of 5 users found this helpful50

Lugo1993

Oct 3, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have a fair bit to say about this horror movie. For starters, it isn't scary at all. There are four female directors in this piece of $#!t film that poses as a horror anthology. One of whom admits to not liking horror movies because they scare her. So why the hell would you agree to participate in a horror film? It comes to no surprise that she directed the Birthday Party, a supposedly black comedy with one major problem, it is not funny. Furthermore, if it is a black comedy, why were there cheap jumpscares, ALL of which had absolutely NOTHING to do with the movie or the "plot" at all. The objective of this was to show how women can be creative individuals that can be considered equal to or even outshine men? Guess what, everyone already knows that. Women have contributed greatly to our society. Who invented bulletproof vests? Stephanie Kwolek. Who invented the first user friendly computer software for businesses in the 1950's and won the very first Computer Science Man of the Year award? Grace Hopper. Anna Connelly's invention is now mandatory in every building since the early 1900s, the fire escape. Josephine Cochrane invented the dishwasher out of frustration, which are now in a good number of homes not only in the United States, but across the world. Women ARE a creative lot, the same can be said of men. And for this reason, I refuse to sugarcoat my review. This film is nothing short of a last minute project by a team of 4 people who had no clue what the f*** they were doing. I can contest that anyone, given the basics of an idea and nothing more can spew out a better horror themed idea, be it short story or movie, before they evacuate their bowels in the early morning.
Why am I so harsh? But I enjoy the genre that this filth is masquerading as. I ADORE horror. In particular, I love psychological horrors. Horror is an interesting genre that has been played out much recently. A horror anything should give you the premise of what is going on, or the plot, lull you into a sense of false security before taking that comfort away from you, leave in suspense as to what might happen, then, as soon as you get comfortable, the horror returns. If horror doesn't do that, then at the least it should have the theme of horror present throughout in it's visual, soundtrack or emotions that a character portrays and it should be consistent and relevant to the situation at hand, but XX is not. Here is an actual example, in the Birthday Party we see the main character(MC) facing away from the camera, another character walks up behind the MC. Music builds, the camera shifts prespective in time for the MC to turn around, loud noise, MC jumps. Mind you, the setting was in a kitchen, apparently, nor was it even dark, in fact it is bright inside as it is outside on a beautiful sunny day. The payoff of this cheap scare? Absolutely nothing, so what was the point? What purpose does this cheap scare have to the rest of the "story?" But this isn't the worst one. As the mother was cutting the eyes for a costume for her daughter, out of nowhere, for no reason, the daughter yells "boo", scaring the mother. And if you listen closely, very closely, because it's so faint, you could hear slightly ominous music after the "scare" fading out. If you movie fails at horror to a point where you create tension from the most innocent of situations, you should be incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of yourself. The most horrific part of this segment in particular was the absolutely mind boggling stupidity of the MC. Here's what I mean, she find her husband dead. A smart person would call the police, cancel the party, alert any other adults present in the household of the situation and of course not let their child see the body. The MC, due to her sheer lack of common sense or basic intelligence does none of these. He hides in the closet with the body(mind you, she did NOT kill this person and there is no reason for her to do this), then drags the body throughout the house(at least being smart enough to not let her daughter see it), then pays the entertainment to give her the costume, stuff the corpse IN the costume then place the corpse THEN places the disguised body ON THE DINNER TABLE where the party that she did NOT cancel was to be held. Oh, and this is a kid's birthday party, so there are other kids there. If you couldn't guess, someone knocks the corpse over, they take off the mask and the see a man who looks like he could be just passed out but because of "plot" everyone knows he's dead and the children scream...
This actually happened. There is no reason the Metacritic score should be as high as it is. This is a piece of **** film, I won't even bother with censoring. **** this movie, **** what they've done to the genre, **** the characters, **** the writing, **** the abysmal acting, **** the directors for putting this **** together, **** everything,… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

NotoriousFraud

Mar 19, 2017

Congratulations women, now you too can make unwatchable piles of garbage. And shame to every professional "critic" who gave this trite train wreck a positive review.

5 of 5 users found this helpful50

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