It’s a well-worn trope in the horror genre that characters who have sex end up dying. In many cases, the “final girl” in these movies is the only chaste or virgin character. The trope can easily be interpreted as puritanical in a way, almost telling viewers that having pre-marital sex will lead to terrifying consequences. “X” really ups the ante on this idea because it’s not like the characters are some horny camp counselors. They’re adult entertainment performers, with sex as a concept permeating throughout everything, including Pearl’s motivations. That idea was appealing to Brittany Snow.
In 2022, the actor was also interviewed by W Magazine about her role in “X,” and she spoke about how she wanted to do the film because it was so much more than just another horror flick with nude scenes. “X” commented on the horror genre as a whole: “It was poking fun at the idea that people die when they have sex in horror movies: this whole movie’s about sex, so is everyone gonna die?” Interestingly enough, it’s adult film performer Maxine (Mia Goth) who survives until the very end, upending expectations that anyone who enjoys sex must die in a horror film.
The older Pearl could even be seen as a stand-in for society; she wants to have sex but still degrades the adult performers for having it. Snow brought up the question, “Why do we demean people for owning their sexuality and for being sex-positive?”
