X (2011)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I watched this film with a view to seeing two actresses work together in a project different from that which I had already enjoyed. Viva Bianca and Hannah Mangan-Lawrence gave great performances, and I enjoyed the depth they gave their characters, which I'm sure had little to do with the writing.This film is one reaction after another, the poor girls never had a chance to collect themselves and make an impact on the story, they were just caught up in an unravelling mess of a situation.There was one occasion when the girls seemed ahead of the curve, but that quickly turned into a fist fight that only gave them something else to react to rather than thickening the plot.I know that reactive stories are not something I like, it was the same problem I had with The Incredible Hulk. And yet I don't feel I can knock the film for it because the tag-line states that this film is about 2 women and 1 bad night. And that it is.

30-ish Holly is looking to get out of prostitution: she has a menacing boyfriend. 17 year old Shay is starting out as a prostitute but isn't really suited to it. They end up in a threesome with a client who is killed by a bent cop, following which they end up on the run.There are some good things about this Australian film, Holly and Shay are played by Hanna Mangan Lawrence and the exotically named Viva Bianca(both from the Spartacus TV series) and both young ladies are a) very attractive and b) scantily clad (or less) from time to time. And the thing is directed with a sense of style: what appears on screen has clearly had some thought given to it.Unfortunately, it is very slow to get going, founded on coincidence and improbability, and the action frequently slows to a dead stop. Despite tolerable performances, I didn't believe it for an instant, and I was frequently bored.

Jon Hewitt's latest drama is a confronting, hard-hitting erotic thriller set in Sydney's vice ridden King's Cross red light district. Shay (newcomer Hanna Mangan Lawrence) is a naïve 17-year old who arrives in Sydney from a small country town and quickly tries to earn a living as a street prostitute. She is taken under the wing of Holly (Viva Bianca, from TV series Spartacus, etc), a veteran high-class escort who wants to leave this world behind and start afresh. But when the pair witness a drug deal gone wrong and a brutal murder they find themselves on the run from Bennett (Stephen Phillips), a corrupt cop. Their desperate flight takes them on a frantic journey through seedy strip clubs and dingy back alleys. X is an unashamed and clichéd genre piece, and while not particularly original, it still delivers some strong action sequences. There is enough casual nudity and brutal violence here to satisfy jaded palates. Hewitt has actually filmed on location in King's Cross itself during the night, and Mark Pugh's cinematography lends a sleazy authenticity to the drama. Hewitt is a dab hand with exploitation movies and pulp dramas, and his direction is full on. Cindy Clarkson's rapid-style editing brings a kinetic energy to the material. X is familiar territory for Hewitt, whose films like Red Ball have also delved into a murky and violent world of corruption and murder. Hewitt has created a pair of strong female roles, and both Bianca and Lawrence deliver brave, physical performances.

Do not watch this because of the cover. Or rather tone down the expectations you might have seeing that cover. You will be expecting more than you will actually get. Not that there isn't anything to see (that will remind you of that cover), but this is a thriller at heart and you should be looking forward to that aspect of the movie more than anything else.The actors in this are good enough, the story is trivial, but not anything that will drag you down or make you feel too bad/uncomfortable watching. A nice little b-movie then, that might not be everyones cup of tea, but will please a target audience.