Independent entertainment company A24 has made a name for itself as the distributor and producer of some of the best horrors in recent years. Notable examples include Robert Eggers' The Witch, Ari Aster's Hereditary and Rose Glass' Saint Maud. These modern horrors, as per A24's brand, are characteristically offbeat and unsettling and take on a more serious tone. That looks to change, however, with the studio's next big project.

A recently released trailer for the simply titled X seems to keep the unsettling and swap the serious for sexy, campy, fun. This supposed change in direction has excited fans of the studio and horror alike; "In A24 we trust" they say, and wait patiently for X's arrival. Fortunately, as the trailer reveals, this won't be very long. In a couple of months, X will be here, and all questions will be answered. But for those who can't wait, here's everything we know about the movie so far.

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The Director

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Indie filmmaker Ti West will direct X with Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Sam Levinson, and Ashley Levinson working alongside him as producers. Ti West gained a cult following from his low-budget horrors which include The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, and The Sacrament, and X marks his first movie since In a Valley of Violence which came out in 2016. With the latter being a Western, West's last horror movie was the aforementioned Sacrament in 2013 though he has directed episodes of several horror shows in the meantime.

The Plot

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The upcoming raunchy horror is set in 1979 and follows a group of adult filmmakers prepped to make a movie (titled "The Farmer's Daughter" according to the trailer). Needing a backdrop, the group head out to rural Texas and stay at an elderly couple's farmhouse where strange occurrences ensue. Neither of the hosts knows what the group are up to, and some distance is probably best based on the husband's comment, "My wife is not well, it happens after dark."

The sick woman does some very strange things in the trailer, from nakedly touching a sleeping member of the group to aimlessly wandering the farm fields at night. These terrifying scenes, which are reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit, are made all the more creepy by quick cuts of blood and violence, and out-of-context dialogue between the stars: "If Daddy catches us there's no telling what he might do," "You don't wanna leave do you?"

Unsurprisingly, comparisons between X and the movies Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Boogie Nights are abundant in the trailer's YouTube comment section, with people citing the filming style and location of the first, adult subject matter of the second, and 70s setting of both. And while it does seem that X will be a blend of the two, knowing A24, nothing is off the table.

The Cast

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The cast of X includes Mia Goth, Jenny Ortega, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi), Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell and Stephen Ure. Mia Goth is a familiar face in horror, having starred in the horror mysteries A Cure for Wellness and Marrowbone, and the horror thriller Suspiria. Jenny Ortega, who is well known for her roles in Jane the Virgin and You, has also starred in several horror movies, including The Babysitter: Killer Queen and, more recently, Scream (2022). Ortega will also play the titular character of Wednesday Addams in the upcoming Addams Family-inspired Netflix series. Brittany Snow is known for her roles in chick flicks such as John Tucker Must Die and Pitch Perfect, though she is no newbie to horror herself. Snow played the lead in the 2008 Prom Night remake, and starred in the horror thriller Would You Rather.

Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi, is an American rapper that dabbles in the acting scene. In 2011 Mescudi played the killer in Shia LaBeouf's short slasher Maniac, and he recently starred in the Netflix disaster comedy Don't Look Up alongside A-listers Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and more. Martin Henderson is best known for his TV roles in Grey's Anatomy and Virgin River, though horror fans might recognize him as the actor from The Ring and The Strangers: Prey at Night. Owen Campbell has appeared in several thrillers, of which Super Dark Times he is best known for. And Stephen Ure portrayed two Orcs in The Lord of the Rings, though nobody would know from his transformation.

The Studios

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X is a co-production between A24 and Bron Studios. The former reached peak weirdness late last year with its release of the folk horror movie Lamb. Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson, Lamb centers on a childless couple living in Iceland who try — with disastrous effect — to raise a newborn human/sheep hybrid as their own. As per Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was better received by critics (86%) than general audiences (61%), and this appears to be the pattern for other A24 horrors too. It remains to be seen if X will change that.

Bron Studios is a media and entertainment company whose notable productions include Joker, Queen & Slim, and Bombshell. Last year, Bron produced Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, and Licorice Pizza. No stranger to horrors, Bron also produced the Jordan Peele-produced Candyman reboot in 2021, so it's safe to say X is in bloody good hands.

X will be available to watch in theaters on March 18.

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