XX | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by |
|
Written by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography |
|
Edited by |
|
Production company | |
Distributed by | Magnet Releasing |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2 million [1] |
Box office | $55,486 [2] |
XX is a 2017 American horror anthology film directed by Jovanka Vuckovic, Annie Clark, Roxanne Benjamin, and Karyn Kusama. It stars Natalie Brown, Melanie Lynskey, Breeda Wool, and Christina Kirk. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017, and was released in the United States in select theaters and through video on demand on February 17, 2017, by Magnet Releasing.
Directed by Sofia Carrillo
The anthology is framed by stop-motion-animated segments depicting a walking dollhouse with a blinking doll face on it. A doll hand – separate, but also living – moves from its drawer and scurries around collecting items the dollhouse finds. Within its interior, various objects and items are shown including: a cabinet where bugs and moths enter acting as a stomach of sorts, a room with living sewing needles that make tiny tapestries, and a room with a morphing apple that seems to act as the dollhouse's heart. Eventually, the dollhouse finds a small blackbird (whether it is stuffed or an actual dead bird is ambiguous). The dollhouse places the bird into a baby doll and upon it crying immediately removes the bird and enters a room with an unconscious girl. The girl has a small door on her chest and the dollhouse places the bird inside it. After a while, the girl awakens, pleasing the dollhouse.
Written and directed by Jovanka Vuckovic, based on the short story by Jack Ketchum
While riding on a train with his mother Susan, a young boy, Danny, sees an old man with a red box; the old man describes it as "a present" and allows Danny to look inside. After looking, Danny refuses to eat any food presented to him. Susan and her husband Robert start to worry about him, taking him to a doctor who finds that Danny has lost five pounds since his last checkup. Danny speaks with his sister Jenny, and soon after, she refuses to eat as well. Robert attempts to speak to Danny about his refusal to eat, but Danny whispers something in his ear, which causes Robert to start refusing food.
Susan is haunted by a dream of her family happily eating her at the dinner table. When she sees Danny, Jenny and Robert eating happily, Susan smiles, happy that her husband and kids are finally eating again.
Come Christmas, Danny, Jenny, and Robert are all emaciated, but don't seem to mind. Danny hands Susan a present wrapped in a red box. Susan recalls the incident on the train and connects the dots. When Susan asks Danny what was in the box, he tells her it was "nothing." Susan reveals in a voice-over that all three members of her family later died of starvation: Danny first, then Jenny, then Robert. She is now searching the trains for the man with the box, still wanting to know what is inside, as she feels it is the only way to get close to her family now.
Written by Roxanne Benjamin and Annie Clark, directed by Annie Clark
Mary is attempting to hold a birthday party for her daughter Lucy, but when she finds her husband David dead in his home office, she decides to hide the body instead of calling 911. She spends the day frantically trying to conceal David's body from Lucy, nanny Carla, and neighbor Madeleine. She finally buys a panda costume off of a man who comes to sing Lucy a birthday song, and hides the body in the costume.
During the party, Mary does not have time to move the costumed body and is forced to set it up on a seat at the table. Carla bumps the costume, causing it to collapse into Lucy's birthday cake. The body is discovered when Carla, attempting to lift the Panda, accidentally removes the head, and the full title of the film is revealed as the children scream in terror: The Birthday Party, or, The Memory Lucy Suppressed From Her Seventh Birthday That Wasn't Really Her Mom's Fault (Even Though Her Therapist Says It's Probably Why She Fears Intimacy).
Written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin
Four friends – Paul, Gretchen, Jess, and Jay – are all on an expedition out in the desert. Gretchen is afraid of heights. The four discover an ancient cave painting depicting an evil spirit before camping out for the night. Gretchen is attacked by a creature similar to the spirit in the painting, which takes over her body and wears her skin. It kills Paul and Jay before chasing Jess, who then falls and breaks her leg. The Gretchen-creature then descends a cliff to kill Jess.
Written and directed by Karyn Kusama
A pregnant woman speaks with a doctor who states that he believes her. When he attempts to address her by name, she states that her name is now Cora, and that she is going into hiding.
Years later, Cora's rebellious son Andy is about to turn 18. She is called into Andy's school to meet with the principal regarding an incident in which Andy tore off a classmate's fingernails. The principal apologizes to Cora that she had to witness an "outburst" from the classmate's mother, and tells Cora that her son is remarkable. Cora is deeply unnerved that her son appears to have entranced his superiors.
Cora's mailman Chet hints that Andy is not necessarily her distant former husband's (an actor) son. He also hints that her story is well-known. Andy – whose voice has changed and finger and toenails have become claws – confirms her suspicions: he is transforming into the spawn of Satan, something she has worried about since before his birth. Andy, embracing his father's power, forces Cora to bow down to him as Satan enters the house to reclaim him, but she then embraces and quickly tells her son the reason they went into hiding, and asserts that she refuses to give up Andy to his father. Andy, moved, chooses her over his destiny. The two hold each other tight as their bones crack and blood seeps from their noses and mouths until they die from Satan's assault.
This segment serves as an unofficial follow-up to Rosemary's Baby (film).
In October 2014, it was announced Karyn Kusama, Mary Harron, Jennifer Lynch, and Jovanka Vuckovic would direct the horror anthology film, while Magnet Releasing would distribute the film. [3] In April 2016, it was announced musician St. Vincent would also direct a segment, making her directorial debut. Lynch and Harron were not involved with the final project, being replaced by Roxanne Benjamin. [4] [5]
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017. [6] [7] It was released in the United States in select theaters and through video on demand on February 17, 2017. [8]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 69% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "XX's array of distinct female filmmaking voices – and the empowerment their collection represents – offer enough thrills to make up for the overall uneven quality that plagues most anthology projects." [9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 64 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]
Bloody Disgusting's Ben Larned called the creation of the film "a milestone" and said the "anthology lives up to expectations, and surpasses many male-dominated efforts of its kind" ultimately giving it a 4/5 rating. [11] Sean Smithson writing for Shock Till You Drop said "XX is marking the spot for the future of horror" and noted "I’m ready for a second installment." [12]
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "while it's worth applauding the women-to-the-fore directive, the usual limits apply. With each short running around 20 minutes, there's little time to develop character or dramatic nuance, let alone lay the crucial groundwork to seed escalating terror." [13]
Lolita Shante Gooden, better known by her stage name Roxanne Shante, is an American rapper. She first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and was part of the Juice Crew. The 2017 film Roxanne Roxanne is a dramatization of Shante's life.
Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall is an American actress and filmmaker. Her film appearances include The Faculty (1998); But I'm a Cheerleader; Girl, Interrupted ; Ghosts of Mars (2001); Identity;21 Grams ; The Grudge (2004); Zodiac (2007); and Argo (2012). On television, DuVall starred as Emma Borden in Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014) and its miniseries spinoff, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015). Her other credits include Carnivàle (2003–2005), Heroes (2006–2007), American Horror Story (2012–2013), Better Call Saul (2015–2017), Veep (2016–2019), and The Handmaid's Tale (2018–2022). She also voiced Elsa on Fox's HouseBroken, which she co-created, from 2021 to 2023.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is a 1990 American comedy horror anthology film directed by John Harrison, serving as a spin-off of the anthology television series Tales from the Darkside. The film depicts the frame story of a kidnapped paperboy who tells three stories of horror to the suburban witch who is preparing to eat him.
13 Going on 30 is a 2004 American fantasy romantic comedy film written by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, directed by Gary Winick, starring Jennifer Garner, and produced by Susan Arnold and Donna Arkoff Roth. The film is about a 13-year-old girl in 1987 who awakens to find herself suddenly 30 years old and living in 2004 as a fashion editor.
Karyn Kiyoko Kusama is an American filmmaker. She made her feature directorial debut with the sports drama film Girlfight (2000), for which she won Best Director and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
Girlfight is a 2000 American sports drama film written and directed by Karyn Kusama in her feature directorial debut, and stars Michelle Rodriguez in her first film role. The film follows Diana Guzman, a troubled Brooklyn high school student who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer, despite the disapproval of both her father and her prospective trainers, as well as the competitors in the male-dominated sport.
Gloria Maude Talbott was an American film and television actress.
Ashley Laurence is an American actress and visual artist. She made her film debut in 1987 as the lead character, Kirsty Cotton, in Clive Barker's horror film Hellraiser (1987), a role she later reprised in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002). The film franchise established her as a prominent actress in horror, and she subsequently starred in Mikey (1992) and Lurking Fear (1994).
Jennifer's Body is a 2009 American comedy horror film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama. Starring Megan Fox in the titular role, and Amanda Seyfried, alongside Johnny Simmons, J. K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris, and Adam Brody in supporting roles, the film follows a high school student, demonically possessed following a sacrifice, who kills her male classmates and devours their flesh in order to survive, with her childhood friend striving to end her killing spree.
An Education is a 2009 coming-of-age drama film based on a memoir of the same name by British journalist Lynn Barber. The film was directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. It stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, a bright schoolgirl, and Peter Sarsgaard as David, the charming conman who seduces her. The film was nominated for 3 Academy Awards in 2010: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Nick Hornby, and Best Actress for Carey Mulligan.
V/H/S is a 2012 American found footage horror anthology film and the first installment in the V/H/S franchise created by Brad Miska and Bloody Disgusting and produced by Miska and Roxanne Benjamin. It features a series of found footage shorts written and directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, and the filmmaking collective Radio Silence.
V/H/S/2 is a 2013 American found footage horror anthology film produced by Bloody Disgusting and Roxanne Benjamin. The second installment in the V/H/S franchise, it comprises four found footage segments linked together by a fifth frame narrative. V/H/S/2 features a largely different group of directors: Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sánchez, and Gregg Hale, and franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard.
The Invitation is a 2015 American horror thriller film directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, starring Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman and Emayatzy Corinealdi. It premiered March 13, 2015 at the SXSW film festival and began a limited release on April 8, 2016, and through video on demand, by Drafthouse Films.
Wiener-Dog is a 2016 American anthology comedy film directed and written by Todd Solondz. Starring an ensemble cast led by Ellen Burstyn, Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, Danny DeVito, Greta Gerwig, Tracy Letts, and Zosia Mamet, the film serves as a spin-off from Solondz's 1995 film Welcome to the Dollhouse, which also features the character of Dawn Wiener. The film is also inspired by the 1966 French drama Au hasard Balthazar, directed by Robert Bresson.
Southbound is a 2015 American horror anthology film directed by Radio Silence, Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, and Patrick Horvath. Produced by Brad Miska and Roxanne Benjamin, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2015, and was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on February 5, 2016. The film was included on numerous Best Horror Films of 2016 lists including those by Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed and the Thrillist.
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016.
Destroyer is a 2018 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Karyn Kusama, written and co-produced by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, and starring Nicole Kidman with Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Scoot McNairy, Bradley Whitford, and Sebastian Stan. The film follows a former undercover police officer (Kidman), who takes revenge against members of a gang, years after her case was blown.
Hereditary is a 2018 American horror film written and directed by Ari Aster in his feature directorial debut. Starring Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, and Gabriel Byrne, the film follows a grieving family tormented by sinister occurrences after the death of their secretive grandmother.
Corporate Animals is a 2019 American comedy horror film directed by Patrick Brice and written by Sam Bain. The film stars Jessica Williams, Karan Soni, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Martha Kelly, Dan Bakkedahl, Calum Worthy, Jennifer Kim, Nasim Pedrad, Ed Helms, and Demi Moore.
Riot Girls is a 2019 Canadian post-apocalyptic science fiction film, directed by Jovanka Vuckovic.