Finally, "Her Only Living Son" directed by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, Jennifer's Body, The Invitation) is the longest short of the bunch, where a mother (Christina Kirk) attempts to protect her son from the dark truths surrounding his parentage. Very strong from a tonal perspective, though given Kusama's pedigree that's a given, it makes for a compelling finish to the entire experience, despite lacking the energy of the shorts which precede it.

The transitions between each segment are carried out via stop-motion animation, done by Sofia Carrillo, which are fairly interesting and creative though feel discordant with the segments it bookends.

While I went into watching this with a lot of hype, as the horror anthology film has seen something of a resurgence with titles like Southbound, and the V/H/S series, and the concept itself had loads of possibility, XX is kind of a disappointment, with its first three shorts feeling like appetizers for the main course. The varying quality of each contribution is mostly at fault here, where there is a distinct lack of effective story presentation, or narrative progression, or even just not having enough frights to really be considered 'horror'. One can only wonder what it would have been like if the original directors Mary Harron, Jennifer Lynch, and the Soska Sisters had remained on board. At a cumulative 81 minute runtime, XX makes for a swift and light viewing option for genre fans, but a hardly memorable or intriguing affair.