X ending explained · Cinespective

What happens

Maxine kills Pearl and Howard and escapes in Howard's truck. As she drives off, you see that Mia Goth also played the old woman Pearl, which ties the survivor to the killer.

The last image

Maxine drives away from the farm, and the film leaves you with the link between her and the old woman she has just escaped.

What it says

The doubling says that Maxine's hunger to be a star and Pearl's lost hopes grow from the same place. The ending frames wanting more as something that can be inherited, and it sets up the prequel, Pearl.