XX

>> AS SPOILER FREE AS I CAN BE <<

 

I was finally able to sit down and watch XX - the film shouted about A LOT before it came out.
"LOOK! A film with nothing but FEMALE DIRECTORS!"

I TOTALLY get it, but it made me sad to think we live in a world where we need to do this sort of thing. A world where it's not just DIRECTORS WHO ARE GOOD. I think it's a sad state of affairs, to be honest. It's another sign that humans are still fighting ridiculous battles that really should have left us ages ago.

Know what's NOT ridiculous however? This film. XX was a fun and entertaining watch that I really enjoyed. 

This anthology had five main stories directed by five different directors:

Roxanne Benjamin ... (segment "Don't Fall") (screen writer / Director)

a writer and Director on SOUTHBOUND and a Producer on the VHS series. 

Karyn Kusama ... (segment "Her Only Living Son") (screen writer / Director)

Director of Aeon Flux, Jennifer's Body, and a few episodes of Man in the High Castle

St. Vincent ... (segment "The Birthday Cake") (as Annie Clark) (screen writer / Director)

relatively new to the game, really. Mostly known for her St Vincent music work

Jovanka Vuckovic ... (segment "The Box") (screen writer / Director)

writer and Director of several shorts and former Big Wig and writer over at FANGORIA magazine.

The film went with a somewhat chilling little Brother's Quay-like stop action creepfest as it's wrapper instead of having another story wrap the whole of it. This really worked for me. It was fun to see the little strange narratives play out in between the stories.

The stories themselves were solid overall, though I think only on of the segments was classic "HORROR" while the others were more...disturbing than anything else. Again, well done and engaging - they all really held my interest.

Maybe this was the "female" feel of the story writing and direction? I'm not sure. All but one of the segments was very "female-centric" as far as the main character and their journey. Well...all of them had that, really. It's just that one of the destinations was...more feral than the others. :::grin:::

I don't even want to go into story lines for this spoiler free review. That would ruin some of the stories for sure. I'm just going to say that I loved something about every story and that the acting was strong in every one as well. 

I was happily surprised to see Melanie Lynskey in here. Fantastic and interesting as usual.

I also enjoyed seeing Angela Trimbur. I saw her DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING segment and I have to say that I have a little crush on her. :::sigh:::  :)

I think your best bet for watching this film is going into it expecting something more along the lines of "chilling" rather than "horrifying" for the most part. The stories are strong, the acting is grand, and the direction is interesting in every case. I wish i purchased the VOD version as soon as it was available instead of waiting so long. I would not have been disappointed.

Currently available on NETFLIX.