Ti West’s X is an A24 slasher film that features some cleverly hidden details regarding the deaths of its central characters. Although released first, X takes place after 2023’s Pearl, and it sees a pornographic film crew travel to an isolated farmhouse to independently produce their latest production, The Farmer’s Daughters. Although Pearl kills the majority of characters in X, her husband Howard is also responsible for some of the film’s gorier sequences as well. This adds to one of the film’s central themes, loneliness, and how it leads to some cruel moments
With the upcoming Maxxxine movie set to expand the story, X will forever be a standout because of how West sets up his characters’ deaths in the first installment. Although some hints regarding the characters’ deaths are more subtle than others, each instance of foreshadowing adds another layer to the overall framework of the story being told. Therefore, X can be even better on a rewatch. This helps make X a cut above the average slasher film, not to mention the quite clever and almost comical death scenes that the movie and its sequel feature.
7 Howard’s Sudden Death Is Foreshadowed By Himself And Pearl Multiple Times
Howard dies of a heart attack.
Howard is something of a tragic figure despite being a murderer, considering his bitterness largely stems from his impotence and inability to start a family with his wife, Pearl. A crucial piece of information is given to the audience when Pearl, despite her old age, attempts to make love with Howard after meeting the much younger film crew. However, despite Pearl’s advances, Howard remarks that he can’t please Pearl because his heart is weak. In X‘s climax, Howard dies from a heart attack after a mortally wounded Lorraine surprises him by coughing up blood after being shot.
6 Jackson Hole’s Name And Veteran Status Foreshadow His Cause Of Death
Jackson is shot in the chest at close range with a shotgun.
Jackson Hole’s name subtly foreshadows his cause of death via shotgun blast to the chest later in the film. However, another less subtle clue that sets up Jackson’s death is his retelling of his time in the Vietnam War to Howard. According to Jackson, he often found himself on the business end of Vietnamese farmers’ shotguns during his time overseas, which only helped harden his mindset and focus. This is especially important considering he doesn’t even flinch when Howard aims his gun at him in the isolated bayou.
5 Wayne Gilroy Predicts His Own Death
Pearl stabs Wayne through the eyes with a pitchfork.
Perhaps the most optimistic character in X, Wayne is the producer of The Farmer’s Daughters, and his excitement regarding the film’s potential as a critical success is felt throughout his scenes. In particular, Wayne discloses to the director, RJ, that out of every movie he’s produced, theirs is going to become a mega success given the level of talent involved, and the themes weaved underneath its steamier subjects. Wayne specifically mentions that audiences’ eyes are going to pop out of their heads when they see the movie, which ironically describes his death via pitchfork prongs to the eyes later on.
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X Movie Ending Explained (In Detail)
Ti West’s slasher X introduced Mia Goth’s Pearl and showcases the wider horror genre in its bloody finale, but what happens at the end of the X movie?
4 Bobby-Lynne Parker’s Death Is Foreshadowed At Her Workplace
An Alligator devours Bobby-Lynne.
Bobby-Lynne is one of the actresses working on The Farmer’s Daughters and is something of a maternal figure to her younger female co-stars. As seen earlier, Bobby-Lynne also works as an exotic dancer at a local strip club along with her co-star Maxine. While the club itself isn’t important to the film, its painting of a woman’s bikini being ripped off by an alligator foreshadows Bobby-Lynne’s death perfectly. Later in X, Bobby-Lynne decides to help find a missing Pearl when, after a brief argument, she is pushed into a bayou and brutally mauled to death by an alligator.
3 RJ Nichols’ Death Is Hinted At Very Early In X’s First Act
Pearl brutally decapitates RJ.
Of all the character deaths in X, RJ’s is the most brutal as it sees him getting decapitated by Pearl with a knife, but the setup for RJ’s death is the most cleverly hidden. In the first act, the film crew drives down an empty highway at blinding speed before running over the entrails of a deceased cow in the middle of the road. A brief shot shows blood splatter across the grill of the van before they leave the scene. During RJ’s death, his blood similarly splatters across the van’s grill before being decapitated completely in the A24 horror movie.
2 Lorraine Day’s Nickname Foreshadows Her Death
The typically quiet Lorraine gets killed for being too loud.
Lorraine is a quiet girlfriend of RJ, and her silent temperament grants her the nickname of Church Mouse from everyone else. However, after witnessing the filming of the production, Lorraine decides she wants to participate in the movie, much to RJ’s dismay. From then on, she becomes increasingly more extroverted, which contributes to her eventually expressing herself via screaming and shouting when she’s under duress. This becomes her undoing as Lorraine’s loud tirade against Maxine leads to Howard shooting her in the face with his shotgun in X‘s climax.
1 Pearl’s Death Is Foreshadowed Twice In X
Maxine runs Pearl’s head over with her truck.
Despite the characters looking nothing alike, Mia Goth plays both Maxine and Pearl, and some of the interaction between the characters foreshadows Pearl’s death. Early in X, Wayne advises RJ to keep a close eye on Lorraine as losing sight of a good woman could result in unpredictable results. Howard loses sight of Pearl after she witnesses Maxine and Bobby-Lynne’s naked bodies, which compels her to embark on her murdering spree as seen throughout the movie. Additionally, Howard tells Jackson that he’s worried about Pearl as she could fall and break her hip.
Later, after Howard dies from his sudden heart attack, Pearl retrieves his shotgun and attempts to use it to murder Maxine. However, after Pearl fires the shotgun at Maxine, the recoil causes her to fly through the air and break her hip upon crashing to the ground. This buys Maxine enough time to steal the elderly couple’s truck keys and use the truck to brutally run Pearl’s head over. The scene is the greatest instance of foreshadowing in X because it is unexpected yet perfectly appropriate for the murderous Pearl.
X (2022)
- Release Date
- March 18, 2022
- Director
- Ti West
- Cast
- Martin Henderson , Mia Goth , Jenna Ortega , Stephen Ure , Scott Mescudi , Brittany Snow , Owen Campbell
- Runtime
- 105 minutes
