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Very disappointing...

How sad is this?

Great Film overall

Fantastic!

An Australian plunge into the worlds of prostitution and police corruption, X isn't nearly as erotic as you might think because co-writer/director Jon Hewitt shies away from sensationalizing the subject matter. Oh, there's a good bit of nudity, some sex scenes and violence, but most of that stuff is either de-romanticized or Hewitt deliberately tries to play down its prurient appeal. In the most straight forward sex scene in the film, the only nudity is a couple of ganders at a flaccid male member. Not the most titillating of images by anyone's standard. And the violence is of the sudden kind that actually looks like it hurts. Hewitt undeniably wanted to make the least arousing flick he could. He largely succeeded, but the lack of distraction only makes the weaknesses in his story easier to see. Still, he's got three pretty strong performances and a story that throws a few unpredictable turns at the audience. That's not nothing.Holly (Viva Blanca) is a well-practiced call girl who's decided she's leaving the business to remake herself in Paris. She's going abandon everything from her old life, especially her creepily intense client/boyfriend Michael (Peter Docker). But on her last night before departing, she takes a job for a threesome at a hotel. All of her usual partners are indisposed, so Holly turns to a young girl she literally runs into on the street. Shay (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) is a 17 year old girl fresh in the city from an unhappy family life and has just gotten a taste of the degradation of handjobbing old men in cars for money and the dangers of existence on the street. Holly needs the help. Shay needs the money. So they sex up this guy, only to then witness his murder. On the run from the killer, Holly and Shay are forced to use every resource they have to stay alive and hope doing so doesn't ruin their chances of having that life be better than it currently is.Though the plot of X depends on a few coincidences, it's fairly solid and involving. The acting of Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Peter Docker and Stephen Phillips as the killer is affecting. Lawrence creates a center of neediness in Shay that she nevertheless puts to use by trying to manipulate people through her own weakness. Docker is believably off kilter and Phillips lets the passions of his character spill over everything he does. It's harder to judge the work of Viva Blanca. She's playing a jaded, hardened woman who isn't naturally sympathetic, but I'm not sure if the emotional indifference felt toward Holly is intentional or the result of poor acting. Holly isn't unlikable. She's like a beautiful handbag that's a cheap knock off so you don't care if you lose it.The major obstacle to X being a good film is that the last half of it hangs entirely on the threat of the killer who's after Holly and Shay. The first time he catches up to Holly, however, she beats the snot out of him. I don't mean she tricks him or surprises him or takes advantage of some fluke circumstance. Holly punches the killer in the throat, kicks him while he's down and then beats him senseless with her carry on luggage. It's kind of hard to take the killer seriously as a menace after that. I know it's all feminist and "grrl power" and stuff for Holly to be able to physically defend herself. In this sort of story, though, that lessens the danger she faces. If she can kick the guy's ass, why does she need to flee from him in fear? And when, later on, the killer and Michael comes to blows, what is the viewer supposed to think when Michael puts up a worse showing than Holly?X isn't a bad motion picture. It simply isn't smartly written enough to stand being an non-exploitative as it is. It needed to be a little trashier, a little sexier, to be good. Your mileage may vary, of course.

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.

...because the main problem with this movie is the plot.It is bad and just a big mess.The acting is below average grade but the nudity is OK.The sex scenes are not exiting but rather boring.The film started well but as the minutes passed,i wanted to press the fast forward button because I was bored.By all means,this is not the worst movie i have ever seen.But with actor like Viva Bianca and director Jon Hewitt i had expected something better. This movie reminds me of Dane Giraud's "Luella Miller from 2005 in a way.There are probably many others who disagree with me but in my view,this film is not even worth the rental time.There are so many other good movies in this category.I can mention Djo Munga's Viva Riva,Phillip Noyce's Dead Calm and Giuseppe Tornatore's The Unknown Woman(La Sconosciuta).