Review: X (2011) d. Jon Hewitt
Jon Hewitt’s X is an Australian thriller starring Spartacus alum Viva Bianca as Holly, a high priced prostitute who caters to the rich. She’s been in the game for most of her life but now she’s finally decided to retire. But just like a thief going for one last score, Holly has one last appointment she has to make. Looking for a threeway partner she comes across Shay, a young girl on her first night of what is sure to be a lifetime of prostitution. Shay has already experienced the grossness of old men wanting hand jobs and has had the shit beat out of her by a pimp. Things aren’t looking good when Holly runs into her on the street and offers her $300 to have sex with her for the night. Shay reluctantly agrees and the two make their appointment. After completing their hamburgling session, a mysterious stranger shows up and murders their client after seeing the insides of a briefcase. The stranger discovers that Holly and Shay have been in the apartment and sets out to find them and kill them.
X tries to be a meditation on the shitty life of prostitution while wrapping itself up in thriller tropes. It never fully succeeds at either. Shay genuinely exudes sympathy and watching her try to negotiate what she’s supposed to do on her first night of hookin’ is unsettling. Holly, on the other hand, is always courted by rich dudes who want to give her a great life. They give her expensive necklaces, she wears incredible dresses, and she’s just flat out hot. You get the distinct impression that prostitution is pretty awesome if you’ve got the looks. Maybe that’s the contrast the director was going for. The only time Holly belies that she has experienced the same stuff Shay is experiencing is when she starts kicking everyone’s ass. It kinda works but kinda doesn’t. The balancing act doesn’t quite gel like it should. Though there is a stand out scene involving Shay helping two drug addicts who then demand money from her and threaten to turn her over to a group of dudes who will gangbang her. The film has some of these really excellent moments but there just aren’t enough of them to really make an impact on the viewer.
The film is not overly violent (though there is a pretty harsh head smash) and actually doesn’t have much sex. All of the sex itself is shot in such a way that you never really see anything which is actually refreshing as the film doesn’t just devolve into exploitation. It actually attempts to be something more, it just doesn’t quite get there. I’m not sure many people are going to like X. I didn’t really care for it. The acting is serviceable but it’s very slow (it takes a good 40 minutes before the main plot starts) and, ultimately, I just didn’t care enough about these hookers to make me feel anything. Another film that is very different tonally, but similar in structure and themes is Red, White, & Blue. That was a film that did similar sleazy material with its characters much, much better. These aren’t exactly the same film but there is enough similar overlap that X just looks amateur by comparison. Maybe I would have liked this movie more if I had seen it first?
Still there are some genuinely effective moments and scenes in X. It isn’t a complete waste of time, it’s just mostly a waste of time. It might be worth a look if you like this kind of darker themed movie but by the end you’ll probably do what I did. Have no real reaction and immediately flip to the weather channel to see if it’s going to storm.
C-
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