Movie Review ~ MaXXXine

In Hollywood, trilogies can often serve as the ultimate showcase of a skilled filmmaker’s vision, a way to thread an intricate narrative across multiple chapters that tell a complete story.  From The Godfather to Back to the Future, there’s power in threes, especially when they are well executed.  I’m not entirely sure director Ti West even intended to make MaXXXine when he traveled to New Zealand in 2021 during the COVID pandemic to film X, but he had already secured a deal with A24 to make a prequel film using the same sets that were already built for his initially planned project. 

By the time X arrived in theaters in early 2022, Pearl was complete and ready to go.  The popularity of both films was so high that the studio greenlit another film for West and star Mia Goth to close out the saga of Maxine Minx.  The teaser at the end of Pearl hinted at Maxine taking on Hollywood, and West has used the extra time between films to think about how he wants the final chapter to read to an audience hungry for something as visceral as X but as artistically daring as Pearl.  What he’s delivered is a neon-drenched love letter to 1980s Hollywood and the bargain-budget horror film. 

Adding a fresh slice to the age-old tradition of Tinsel Town-skewering horror, MaXXXine is an audacious blend of the ‘70s and ‘80s Giallo influences and a lurid sleaze reminiscent of Brian De Palma’s Body Double.  In franchises like Scream and Psycho (the set of which is beautifully incorporated into the film), Hollywood has proved to be unnaturally fascinated with the dark underbelly of fandom.  West’s trilogy joins this long list that pulls back the glitz to reveal the rot beneath.  While it doesn’t lean too hard into the meta-commentary of film vs. reality as has become a too-easy catch-all, MaXXXine still targets the industry with glee.

West finds Maxine Minx (Goth, Suspiria) in 1985 Los Angeles, six years after surviving the Texas pitchfork/gator/shotgun/knife massacre depicted in X, an event she’s kept quiet since her arrival.  Making a name for herself as a top entertainer in the adult film business, she knows that she has an expiration date for her line of work and sets her sights on a bigger screen.  Determined to achieve stardom at the highest level, she’s up for a role in The Puritan II, a follow-up to a low-budget horror film that became a cult hit on VHS.  Directed by the demanding Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debikci, The Great Gatsby), Maxine knows this is the opportunity she’s been waiting for and won’t let anything stand in her way.

As the shadow of The Night Stalker looms large from the hills of Hollywood to its famed broken boulevard of dreams, fear has been instilled throughout the city.   That terror comes to Maxine’s doorstep when someone begins picking off members of her inner circle around the same time a scuzzy private investigator (Kevin Bacon, Beverly Hill Cop: Axel F) makes his presence known.  Hired by an unknown individual to track Maxine down, he knows what has happened in her past but underestimates what she’ll do to keep it from ruining her big break.  As the killer gets closer and The Night Stalker becomes bolder, Maxine becomes impossibly caught in a web of secrets and murder, learning the true meaning of making sacrifices for your art along the way.

Over the three films, Goth has created a uniquely modern scream queen that fits into no previous mold.  As an actress, she’s a force of nature, and she carries that through to create equally vulnerable and mighty ferocious characters.  You know how they say you don’t want to meet someone in a dark alley?  You really don’t want to meet Maxine Minx in one.  Evolving from a wide-eyed dreamer in X to an anti-hero survivor in Pearl, she brings it full circle with the raw intensity and hardened edge she finds in MaXXXine.  The talent is formidable, but Goth makes her ability to portray a multifaceted arc look easy.

The supporting cast shines as well.  Though, like Pearl, it’s undoubtedly a star vehicle for Goth and less an ensemble piece like X, West has gathered a group of standout performers comfortable sitting in the passenger seat while Goth guns it.  Debicki has a commanding presence, and her scenes with Goth have a nice snap.  I also enjoyed Moses Sumney (Creed) as a clerk at a video store next to Maxine’s apartment.  He’s a winning confidant to her, and while the character could have used a few more scenes to develop him further, he makes the role more than just a stock best friend archetype.  As with Pearl, it’s so much Goth that you occasionally want some other flavor profile West is comfortable serving, but it’s a minor gripe when the lead is this captivating.

In films like 2007’s The House of the Devil, 2009’s The Innkeepers, and 2016’s In a Valley of Violence, West has tended to favor deconstructing a genre and rebuilding it in his voice.  He’s already gotten the ball rolling with the first two films. Still, he achieves something special with MaXXXine, combining influences from Italian horror and cheapie drive-in junk to make a movie with an air of classy sophistication.  Lacking the requisite T&A that is a defining characteristic of those influences but not short on gruesome bits of violence, it may be the most reserved in jump scares and standard horror developments.  Don’t let that fool you into thinking there aren’t some upsetting moments, though. 

Taking over costume design responsibilities from Malgosia Turzanska, Mari-An Ceo captures the excess of ‘80s fashion without rolling into parody.  It’s just one element on the technical side that transports the audience to the iconic sights of the era.  The glamor and grime of Hollywood’s famed streets and its eerie movie studio backlots are handsomely rendered by production designer Jason Kisvarday (Palm Springs), and there are moments when watching Eliot Rockett’s cinematography when you forget you’re watching a film from 2004 and not 1984.  Returning composer Tyler Bates’ (John Wick: Chapter 4) score turns up the pulsating menace by releasing the synths on his haunting melodies.  Everything contributes to an atmosphere of authenticity, a consistent theme throughout this franchise.

Stylish and substantive, MaXXXine offers a fitting finale to West’s trilogy of terror.  It’s a satisfying conclusion (or is it??) that ends on a tantalizingly teasing thought about where we go when we’ve reached what we believe is the top.  When you want it all and get it all, what’s next?  Whatever comes next for this franchise, West or Goth, MaXXXine has already earned a place for itself in the grindhouse horror genre.  Stellar performances guided by sharp direction with classy production values are rare in horror films, which is why this entire three-picture ride with West and Goth has been so unpredictable and exhilarating.