Upamanyu Biswas
After the cast and crew of a pornographic movie titled ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ get trapped in an elderly couple’s farmhouse, a night of horror unfolds as the group finds themselves hunted down by their strange hosts. As explored in ‘X,‘ director Ti West explores the grungy world of 1970s pornography through a filmmaking team’s process of crafting a countryside adult movie, which is twisted into a demented horror story as the narrative progresses. However, it plays the centerpiece in a movie that probes into the different sides of beauty, lust, and sexual promiscuity!
The Farmer’s Daughter: A Fictional Adult Movie Emphasizing the Closeness Between Porn and Horror
‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ porn movie in ‘X’ is a fictional production crafted by writer, director, and co-producer Ti West. It is the main attraction of the movie and the reason why the events within the story take shape. Under producer Wayne Gilroy’s leadership, the movie’s cast and crew go on a trip to Pearl and Howard’s farmhouse, where they plan to shoot the movie. However, Gilroy does not reveal the actual nature of the production to the elderly couple, as he suspects that they might disapprove of the crew’s intentions to film an adult movie on their premises. It also creates a tense relationship between the movie’s antagonist, Pearl, who views the star of ‘The Farmer’s Daughter,’ Maxine Minx, as a reflection of her younger self.
Although the actual movie presented in ‘X’ may be fictional in origin and contains its own original plot, the 1976 pornographic drama ‘The Farmer’s Daughters’ by Zebedy Colt shares a similar name. Intriguingly, the movie came out during the same era as the fictional porno in the Ti West directorial, showcasing parallels in their style and their countryside aesthetic. However, the two movies are separated by their plot as the 1976 movie revolves around a group of farm daughters who engage in all manner of debaucherous acts with the farmhand Fred. Meanwhile, in the fictional adult film, the story follows a stranger whose van breaks down near a farmhouse, and he is temporarily provided a roof by the farmer’s daughter, who also takes an interest in him.
In an interview, West explained the reasons for basing most of the movie’s narrative around the adult film business, saying, “Horror movies and porn movies were films that were made outside of the system, that didn’t have to go through the Hollywood machine, yet found a commercial value.” As such, his intention to explore the sleazy aspects of the filmmaking business paved the way for a unique story that combines the behind-the-scenes madness of a porn production with an out-and-out horror thriller set in the swampy backwaters of Texas. While ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ plays a prominent role narratively, it does not exist outside the movie’s fictional realms.
Read More: Is X (2022) Inspired by a True Story?
