The A24 Horror Film Serving Screams To Netflix's Top 10

Netflix viewers are an unpredictable bunch. One minute they'll lap up a truly abject Michael Fassbender thriller, the next they'll propel the excellent "Dredd" into the Netflix Top 10. The only logical conclusion to all this is that in the age of streaming, we'll pretty much watch anything as our senses are slowly dulled by a never ending supply of "content." Still, we might as well be mildly entertained as we drift towards this bland hellscape of mediocre streaming films and AI-written movies, and this week, Netflix has provided.

This time, Fassbender is nowhere in sight. Instead, we've got "X" causing a minor stir on the Netflix charts. A24 and Ti West's 2022 effort is a slick and stunning original slasher which actually enjoyed a good critical response upon release. 94% on Rotten Tomatoes ain't bad, after all. While you might not expect a film about an elderly woman who lays waste to an entire film crew to be such a hit on streaming, "X" has a lot more going for it than geriatrics gone wild.

Set in 1979, the film follows a crew of filmmakers and actors who embark on a roadtrip to make an adult film, stopping at a Texas farmhouse on the way, where they're hosted by two elderly residents. At the farmhouse, the crew film several scenes, only to find their seemingly harmless hosts harbor some lascivious and violent urges of their own. Besides West's fastidious attention to detail when it comes to recreating the look of '70s and '80s exploitation films, "X" is notable for starring Mia Goth in dual roles as both Maxine, the young adult actress, and Pearl, the deranged elderly woman who hosts Maxine and her friends. All of which, it seems, adds up to streaming success.

Unlike Keanu Reeves' and director David Ayer's forgotten 2008 feature, "Street Kings," Ti West's "X" didn't really need any sort of streaming renaissance to get the credit it deserved. Back in 2022, the film made $15 million on a budget of $1 million, making it yet another modern horror success story. With that kind of box office performance, "X" joined such recent sleeper horror hits as "Skinamarink," "Barbarian," "Smile," and "Terrifier 2," the success of which was similar to "X" in that Damien Leone's mega-slasher made $15 million on a budget of just $250,000. 

"X" was quickly followed by the prequel film "Pearl," also starring Goth, and the trilogy will conclude with "MaXXXine," rumored for a release later this year.

But a little streaming success never hurts, and "X" has proven it can bring in the Netflix crowds despite its gory content and decidedly adult theme. Debuting on the streamer February 1, 2024, "X" managed to instantaneously hit the top 10 in the U.S., ranking in the tenth spot on the day it arrived. According to streaming data aggregator FlixPatrol, since that auspicious debut the film has stuck around, briefly hitting number eight on February 5, before falling back to number 10 the following day. As of February 7, it's still holding on to that number 10 spot, refusing to be killed off and clinging to dear life like so many final girls that came before.

Are Netflix's viewing metrics all that trustworthy? Well, no. It's also worth bearing in mind that "X" is in the number 10 spot for films, not necessarily the overall chart (Netflix hasn't released the overall Top 10 for this week just yet). But hey, a win is a win, and it's great to see a horror in the top 10, especially one of this caliber.