MAXXXINE

“In this business, until you're known as a monster, you're not a star.” Bette Davis

MaXXXine, the third film in Ti West’s X series, picks up 6 years after the events of this series first film. Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), who we last saw escaping a massacre in 2022’s X, is now an adult movie star determined to step away from the pornography industry and into mainstream horror movies.

Unfortunately for her the ghosts of her past may have other ideas.

There is an awful lot to love here.

I’m a sucker for films set in Los Angeles, and I love anything which shows the inner workings of Hollywood. The moments of Maxine and her new director Elizabeth (Elizabeth Debicki) driving around Universal Studios, through famous streets, past famous sets, could have been made just for me. Eliot Rockett’s cinematography capturing them in a way that manages to feel modern, while still reflecting the influences of the period.

There are some really fun performances as well. Kevin Bacon is great fun as unhinged Private Investigator John Labat. He chews the scenery and hams it up, but still manages to exude a genuine sense of foreboding. Elizabeth Debicki feels authentic as a female director having to be merciless to make it in a male dominated world. 

Both could destroy Maxines future career. John with his threats to reveal her blood soaked past, and Elizabeth willing to discard her immediately if she feels she isn’t taking her opportunity seriously. 

Tyler Bates score is fantastic, blending 80’s infused electronic horror with noir-esque jazz. It manages to stay true to the period horror it is trying to pay tribute to, while also acknowledging the city in which it is set.

We then have the mystery of The Night Stalker. A real-life figure who tragically killed at least 14 people between 1984 and 1985. This fictionalised version is a classic noir villain, hiding in the dark and casting a shadow over the city and its people.

As I said, a lot to love. So why didn’t I love it? 

I think ultimately it feels like there isn’t an in universe reason for this film to exist. It was green-lit purely on the strength of X and Pearls performances and not because of the merits of its own script.

It feels like an idea that director Ti West had for another film, into which he has shoehorned Maxine because the other two had made money.

And in fact I think it would have worked better as a standalone film, away from this series. Unshackled from the responsibility of making everything tie together.

Because everything I liked about this, everything I have mentioned above, is unrelated to X and Pearl. I loved the setting, the mystery of the Night Stalker, the way the film looked and sounded. I loved Kevin Bacons deranged P.I. and really enjoyed Elizabeth Debicki’s ruthless director. I loved the behind the scenes Hollywood shots and the references to classic horror films (most of which, admittedly, have likely gone over my head).

Yet every time we had deal with the events of X, every time Maxine’s past was examined… it pulled me out. It didn’t feel natural.

Mia Goth feels slightly muted in comparison to her previous performances in this franchise. Don’t get me wrong, when she’s good, she’s good. The opening scene,  as she delivers a monologue in an audition, is electric, it’s just that she doesn’t get these moments often enough.

Her character wilting in the presence of those who hold the key to her future.

All of this leaves MaXXXine as something of a disappointment. Without the weight of the franchises past it may have been elevated to a horror classic, but as it is its central story feels without purpose or heft. It meanders through a beautifully staged 80’s LA, with the backing of a brilliant score, but never quite has the killer instinct that X or Pearl had in abundance.

It’s not bad, but unless the potential fourth franchise entry gets made, it is a somewhat underwhelming end to the trilogy.