MAXXXINE (2024) MOVIE REVIEW
Ti West & Mia Goth's "X" trilogy comes to a bloody close with a fun ode to taboo '80s slashers and Giallo mystery cinema.
by Nate Lemann
The final (?) entry in Ti West’s “X” trilogy once again works as a remix of classic horror genres. This 1980s, Hollywood-set entrant is a mashup of the 1980s pulpy slasher and Giallo slasher mystery. We pick up with Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), some years after the horrific massacre from the first film. She has hidden her connection to that event while making a new name for herself in the adult film world. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star in a mainstream horror movie is given to Maxine, a suspicious figure begins to stalk after her and anyone she cares about.
While that plot may sound cookie cutter in the slayer genre, West follows his director character’s (a really, really good cold queen Elizabeth Debicki) filmmaking philosophy of building a B-movie with A-ideas. He even references the original pulp film-turned masterpiece “Psycho” many times throughout the picture. West explores themes such as finding a way to use often looked down upon art forms to Trojan Horse larger ideas, creating an untraditional pathway to success for the often marginalized people in the industry. There is also a running theme about the victimization of sex workers in this era of L.A. (we are led to question whether the stalking killer may be the notorious real-life serial killer “The Night Stalker”). Underneath all that is an undercurrent of growing puritanical rage against the over-sexed and blasphemous storytelling Hollywood, a staple of 1980s conservative values.
Goth is really exceptional in this series. She is so believably driven and cocky, yet still is able to show shades of vulnerability and fear. She is at the pinnacle of the genre and is a truly talented, assured performer. Debicki is really phenomenal, playing Elizabeth Bender, a controlling female director forced to use a B-movie genre to get her place at the table of legitimate filmmaking recognition (a tall task for a female director in any era but especially in that time in Hollywood). Giancarlo Esposito gets to finally play a character that isn’t just a different variation of Gus Fringe, giving a very humorous and knowing performance as Maxine’s agent/lawyer/confidant. The man who almost steals the show is Kevin Bacon, playing an ultra seedy, Bayou-born private eye who may or may not be working with Maxine’s stalker. His scenes with Goth are the real highlight of the film.
Your appetite may vary on West’s trilogy, and while some of you are calling for him to actually make A-movies with A-ideas, that was never the intention as West was looking to shine a spotlight on the overlooked artists of the era who were forced into these marginalized genres, yet still found creative pathways to achieve their artistic dreams.
FINAL RATING: 4/5 (Fun slasher with lots on its mind)
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