Before “grindhouse” described a movie style, it referred to a type of cinema. From the 1920s onward, theatres in areas such as Hollywood Boulevard and Times Square used a “grind policy”: inexpensive admission, low-budget films and double or triple features. Their locations and rough reputations helped create an image of cheap, disreputable entertainment with a distinctive appeal.
A major change arrived in 1968, when the Hays Code gave way to the MPAA film-rating system. Movies could now portray substantially more violence and sexual content without facing the same level of direct censorship. That shift helped fuel the exploitation boom of the 1970s, followed by the low-budget slashers and notorious home-video releases of the 1980s.
Home video and premium cable had largely pushed traditional grindhouse theatres out of business by the 1990s. A few intentionally retro venues, including the New Beverly and Grand Illusion Cinema, kept the spirit alive. Since then, “grindhouse” has increasingly described an aesthetic: grubby genre filmmaking, often made cheaply but not always, with an enthusiastic taste for nastiness.
Ti West is one of the strongest modern practitioners of that style. After working through low-budget horror in the 2000s, including Cabin Fever 2, he made a major breakthrough with X. The 2022 slasher also helped place Mia Goth firmly in the cultural spotlight. It became the first entry in a trilogy, and all three films can now be watched together on Hulu.
The three films in the X trilogy
X (March 2022)
Set in rural Texas in 1979, X follows an independent film crew who arrive at a small farm under false pretences. Their real plan is to make a pornographic film. Once the elderly owners discover the production, the situation turns murderous.
Mia Goth has two roles in the film. She plays Maxine, a young woman making her adult-film debut, and Pearl, the elderly farm owner who is almost unrecognisable beneath the make-up. Pearl is also one of the people responsible for the killings.
Pearl (November 2022)
The prequel moves back to 1918 and returns to the same farm. Goth plays a younger Pearl, who is waiting for her husband Howard to return from the First World War. Her growing fury and frustration provide the background to the violence that eventually defines her later life.
MaXXXine (2024)
The trilogy concludes with a direct sequel to X. In 1985 Los Angeles, Maxine is attempting to move from adult films into horror cinema when a stalker begins following her. The film should not be confused with the Hulu original queer coming-of-age film Maxine.
As a complete set, the three films make a strong choice for a slasher marathon. West understands the genre without turning the material into a parody, while Goth remains compelling whenever either Pearl or Maxine takes centre stage. Viewers who enjoy the Scream films may also appreciate the trilogy’s unusually prominent ensemble, which includes Jenna Ortega, Kid Cudi, David Corenswet, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, Halsey, Lily Collins and Giancarlo Esposito.
The casting is one of the series’ pleasures, but the films’ restraint matters more. They are not built around knowing winks or broad camp. Instead, the story takes Pearl and Maxine seriously as two women separated by six decades, each prepared to kill in pursuit of what she wants.
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The X trilogy — X, Pearl and MaXXXine — is streaming on Hulu.
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