By: Shawn McKee

Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is a runaway and lone survivor of a Texas massacre who travels to Hollywood with dreams of stardom. She’s tough, determined, and seemingly amoral in pursuing fame. Her takeaway line of “I will not accept a life I don’t deserve” and her goals to transcend adult film into a legitimate acting career are the driving force of a story that makes us wonder why we should care.

MaXXXine is the third entry in writer/director Ti West’s horror/thriller trilogy preceded by X and Pearl, both released in 2022. As a straightforward slasher film, X follows a group of friends who travel to rural Texas to shoot a pornographic film. Maxine (Goth) is first introduced as an aspiring adult film star, with her producer boyfriend, fellow actors, and small production crew. They rent a barn from an elderly couple who turn out to be homicidal maniacs.

Pearl acts as a prequel to the first film, delving into the origins of the elderly woman/killer from X named Pearl (also Goth). Set in 1918, during WWI, Pearl transcends into a brooding psychological character study of a tragic and mentally unstable woman corrupted by her surroundings.

For fans of the two starkly different films, there are two camps. Some prefer the first film, while others prefer the second. I’m in the latter category with Pearl and didn’t care much for X at all.

Both films pay stylistic tribute to the cinema of their respective periods. While X acts as a homage to gritty exploitation horror films of the ’70s (with the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre aesthetically leading the fray), Pearl harkens back to the silent film era and Technicolor films of Hollywood’s golden age, with a Hitchcockian tone throughout.

MaXXXine continues the trend as a cinematic tribute to ’80s slashers and Italian Giallo/murder mystery films. It is a direct sequel to X, presenting a visceral backdrop of the 1980s or at least Ti West’s seedy depiction of it, replete with ’80s fashion, music, mixed media, and cocaine usage throughout. And what would a movie based in 1985 be without several scenes in a video store?

Despite its impressive style and aesthetic, MaXXXine misses the mark in many ways. It’s an incredibly well-made film with great cinematography, a killer soundtrack, and a streak of brilliance. Like the films before it, the incredible Mia Goth shines as always. Her masterful performance in Pearl should have garnered an Academy Award nomination if not a win. But even she can’t overcome the trappings of a script that leads to a predictable climax and several lost opportunities to be something more.

MaXXXine continues the journey of Goth’s character reeling from the trauma she endured in X. She finally gets her big break with a co-starring role in the horror movie, The Puritan II. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure with black leather gloves straight out of Giallo cinema stalks her, seemingly killing off anyone she’s associated with.

Maxine must decide between pursuing her dreams or solving the mystery of a malicious force out to get her. The fictitious world of MaXXXine runs parallel to the true story of serial killer Richard Ramirez aka “The Night Stalker,” who terrorized the Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s. West captures the ominous dread of the time perfectly, while the focus on the moral outrage and satanic panic movements of time become predictably heavy-handed and one-dimensional, especially the fundamentalist religious cult at the end.

The cast features familiar faces along with some big stars. Kevin Bacon as a sleazy PI is a lot of fun, but his purpose in the film is a bit muddled and ultimately pointless. Fresh from his career-defining roles in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Giancarlo Esposito adds some weight and humor as Maxine’s dedicated agent and confidant. The movie moves along briskly within its short runtime, culminating in an unfortunately weak climax and baffling finale.

Both West and Goth seem enamored with the world of Maxine and her distant counterpart Pearl—enough to make three movies about them. The shared similarities between the two characters remain a continual theme in West’s trilogy about the pursuit of fame and need for acceptance. With so much thought, passion, and talent in front of and behind the camera, I was expecting something more.

MaXXXine is a mixed bag, both enjoyable and disappointing. But there’s also a lot going on beneath the surface. The slasher elements and gore effects range between effective, shocking, and poorly done (namely the stabbing scene in the video store). Part of the problem is the character herself. Maxine is tough and fiercely independent but not all that likable or interesting.

Ti West is a talented filmmaker, and Mia Goth is undeniably one of the best actresses today. As we continue to lose Hollywood greats (most recently, Donald Sutherland, Robert Towne, and the irreplaceable Shelley Duvall), it’s encouraging to know there are still some real artists to carry the torch.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars