XX
The Box : After peering into a shiny red gift box on a commuter
train, seven-year-old Danny Jacobs inexplicably stops eating. When
his father and sister also begin to waste away, Danny’s mother Susan
struggles to make the connection between herself, her dying family
and the mysterious box before it’s too late. The Birthday Party: A
harried housewife tries to keep her daughter, and the nosy neighbors,
from discovering a dark secret the morning of her daughter’s
eighth birthday party. Don’t Fall: A group of adventurous friends get
into trouble when they venture off the beaten path and trespass on
someone, or something else’s land on a camping trip. Her Only Living
Son: 18 years after narrowly escaping Manhattan, a narcissistic
actor husband and a cult with designs on her unborn child, Cora
finds herself face to face with a son who can no longer deny his
monstrous heritage.
Thank the gods of everything that’s unholy that women are breaking
through the glass ceiling of genre cinema in ever larger numbers. XX
is a new all-female helmed horror anthology featuring four dark tales
written and directed by fiercely talented women. Jovanka Vuckovic
(The Captured Bird) dares to open The Box. Annie Clark (St. Vincent)
rocks her directorial debut with The Birthday Party. Roxanne Benjamin
(Southbound) screams Don’t Fall. Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux, The Invitation)
exorcises Her Only Living Son and award-winning animator Sofia
Carrillo (La Casa Trista) ties everything together with her disturbing
Brothers Quay-like animation segments.