If Ti West’s X franchise expands with a fourth movie, it can make up for Pearl’s most heartbreaking story. In 2022, Ti West brought the slasher film X, made in the style of exploitation and horror films from the 1970s. X took the audience back to 1979 Texas to follow the crew of a pornographic film as they arrived at a farm to film their new movie. The farm was owned by elderly couple Pearl and Howard, but they weren’t informed of the crew’s plans to use their farm’s guesthouse as a film set. Just a couple of months after its release, X was followed by Pearl.
Serving as a prequel, Pearl went back to 1918 Texas, during the influenza pandemic, to follow young Pearl who lived with her parents at the farm while Howard served in World War I. Pearl showed signs of psychopathy, and a series of situations that didn’t go as she hoped led her to commit various crimes. The third installment in West’s X series is MaXXXine, which will follow the only survivor of the X massacre as she moves to Los Angeles in the 1980s to pursue her dreams of becoming a famous actress – and if MaXXXine gets a sequel, it can make up for Pearl’s saddest story.
Where To Watch Ti West’s Pearl & X
Ti West’s X and Pearl are the first installments in his X movie series, and here’s where you can watch both movies, as well as rent and buy options.
A Fourth X Movie Can See Maxine Achieving What Pearl Never Could
In an interview with What’s Under the Bed?, West was asked about the future of the X franchise and a potential fourth movie in Pearl and Maxine’s stories. West revealed he has an idea for a fourth X movie, but he has chosen to focus on MaXXXine and how it’s received by the audience and will decide where to go from there. As such, West didn’t share details about this idea, but if a fourth X movie means that Maxine survives her new movie, then this potential next chapter in the franchise can make up for the most heartbreaking story in Pearl: her frustrated career as an actress.
Pearl was fascinated by films and would visit the local cinema behind her mother’s back as she aspired to be a chorus girl, which her mother disapproved of. Pearl saw a chance to pursue her dreams and leave the farm when an audition to find dancers for a traveling troupe was held in town, but unfortunately, Pearl didn’t meet the requirements. Pearl’s frustration over her failed acting career followed her for the rest of her life, as seen in X, but Maxine’s future is already looking brighter than Pearl’s.
In X, Maxine had already started her career as an adult film star, which was a lot more than Pearl ever achieved, and though it’s to be seen what will happen to her in Maxxxine, if it gets a sequel it’s most likely because she, once more, survived the movie. Even better, if Maxine achieves stardom in her next movie, the sequel can continue exploring her acting career, giving the audience a taste of what Pearl could have gotten and never did.
Maxxxine’s Sequel Could Repeat Pearl’s Biggest Tragedy
On the other hand, there’s also the possibility that a fourth X movie could repeat Pearl’s biggest tragedy. Even though Maxine already has more of a career than Pearl ever did, Maxxxine could see her downfall, depending on where her career takes her and who she comes across (at the time of writing, it’s unclear if she will be the killer or someone else). If Maxine doesn’t achieve stardom and her career ends in Maxxxine, she will be repeating Pearl’s fate, which can set her up as a dangerous antagonist in a sequel.
Through this, West’s reasoning about Pearl and Maxine being different characters but the same person would be even clearer, and Maxine would have been doomed to repeat Pearl’s tragedies from the beginning. It’s to be seen not only where Maxxxine will take its title character but also if it will make way for a fourth X movie and what it could be about.
X (2022)
Director Ti West presents X, a horror slasher film set in 1979 in rural Texas that follows a group of amateur filmmakers attempting to shoot a pornographic film. When the group gets further along in the film, and the elderly homeowners take notice, they slowly realize they’ve drawn their formerly gracious hosts’ ire – and jealously.
- Director
- Ti West
- Release Date
- March 18, 2022
- Cast
- Martin Henderson , Mia Goth , Jenna Ortega , Stephen Ure , Scott Mescudi , Brittany Snow , Owen Campbell
- Runtime
- 105 minutes
