Film

XX

Name: XX
Genre: Horror
Released: 2017
Cast: Natalie Brown, Jonathan Watton, Peter DaCunha, Peyton Kennedy, Ron Lea

Horror
Very dark
Dip in and out

XX is a four-part horror anthology directed entirely by women, each segment offering a distinct flavour of dread. It's genuinely unsettling without relying on gore or jump scares—think psychological discomfort and slow-burn wrongness. Perfect for horror fans who want something different, directed with precision and a willingness to sit in darkness.

TMDb rating

2.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want horror built on mood and unease rather than constant shocks, and you enjoy anthologies where each story tries its own tone.

Skip it if you want one continuous story, because four unrelated shorts mean the mood resets each time and a weaker segment can drag on the whole.

What it asks of you: It asks for steady attention across four separate stories in a brisk 81 minutes, with patience for shifting tones and a willingness to sit in discomfort without an easy payoff.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

A Dark Song2016

Intimate, haunting meditation on grief and obsession wrapped in a supernatural framework. Slow-burn direction creates genuine unease, and the performances are rawly vulnerable in ways horror rarely attempts.

But Deliberately paced to the point of glacial. If you want answers or catharsis, this film is not interested in providing either.

The Wailing2016

A masterclass in dread that accumulates rather than explodes. Ambiguity and paranoia drive the narrative more than plot, and the final reveal rewires everything you thought you understood.

But Nearly three hours long, in Korean, with a deliberately confusing narrative structure. Requires active participation and can feel frustratingly oblique.

Prevenge2017

Darkly funny body horror about a pregnant woman compelled to commit murders. Alice Englert is hypnotic, and the film balances grotesqueness with genuine pathos and pitch-black comedy.

But The violence is frequent and inventive in ways that might feel gratuitous. Tonal shifts between horror and comedy won't work for everyone.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from XX

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Raw2017

Both XX and Raw use horror's vocabulary to examine what women's bodies are forced to contain, endure, and become. They're horror films genuinely interested in embodied experience rather than spectacle.

Coming-of-age body horror about a vegetarian veterinary student who develops cannibalistic urges. It's shocking and tender simultaneously—a film about appetite, identity, and the body's betrayals that reframes genre entirely.

But Extensively graphic. The violence and degradation exist in a register of unflinching realism that many will find deeply difficult to watch, not as spectacle but as violation.

Under the Skin2014

Scarlett Johansson in a role of absolute stillness, driving an unsettling science-fiction horror about predation and the inhuman. Hypnotic cinematography and an electronic score create pure atmosphere.

But Long stretches contain almost no dialogue, and the plot is deliberately opaque. Patience isn't optional; it's the entire experience.

Suspiria1977

Dario Argento's masterpiece of pure visual and sonic nightmare—a ballet academy with witchery. Every frame is composed like a painting; watching it is like having an anxiety dream in Technicolor.

But Logic and plot coherence take a back seat to mood and aesthetics. The dubbing can be distracting, and the pacing favours dread over conventional narrative momentum.

Come True2020

Ethereal sci-fi horror about sleep studies and bodily autonomy. The visual language is dreamlike and deeply unsettling, building to an ending that lingers like an infection.

But Narratively sparse and deliberately vague about what's actually happening. If you need everything explained, you'll leave frustrated.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer2017

Yorgos Lanthimos crafts an ancient-curse narrative with surgical precision and mounting dread. Performances are unnervingly formal; something is deeply wrong and you can taste it throughout.

But Extremely stylized dialogue and pacing will feel artificial or affected to many viewers. The violence, when it comes, is devastating in ways some find exploitative.

Saint Maud2020

Claustrophobic psychological horror about a nurse's obsession with her patient. Rose Glass's performance and the film's visual language create intimate terror about faith, desire, and delusion.

But Slow-burn with minimal plot momentum. By design, it's ambiguous whether the supernatural elements are real or symptomatic of mental breakdown.

Starry Eyes2014

Body-horror rise-and-fall narrative set in Hollywood's underbelly. The transformation is grotesque and the social satire is sharp; it's genuinely disgusting and weirdly compassionate.

But Heavy on practical gore effects that some will find gratuitous rather than purposeful. The protagonist makes increasingly difficult moral choices that alienate viewers.

Ginger Snaps2000

Like XX, it's horror directed with clear-eyed interest in women's experiences—not as victims but as subjects. Both films trust women to be complicated and strange.

Werewolf film reimagined as a metaphor for female adolescence and sexuality. Sharp script, genuine affection for its characters, and the practical effects are weirdly beautiful. It's funny and heartbreaking without undermining the horror.

But Tonal shifts between comedy and body horror might feel inconsistent. The low budget shows in ways some viewers will find cheesy rather than atmospheric.

The Babadook2014

Both films use horror's language to explore psychological and emotional states rather than treating them as backdrop. They're interested in the interior lives of their characters, and the scares emerge from that specificity.

Grief made monstrous in a haunted-house film about a widow and her son. Completely original entity design, restraint with the camera, and performances of genuine emotional weight. Terrifying precisely because it's about real pain.

But The child actor's performance will frustrate some viewers; he's deliberately whiny and difficult. The monster is rarely shown clearly, which some find cheating rather than atmospheric.