MaXXXine Review: A Messy Conclusion!
Ti West has accomplished something special in the last few years as a rising filmmaker. Very rarely is someone able to direct, write, and produce an entire trilogy releasing in a two year span. The first film in the franchise, X released in March of 2022 with its prequel Pearl: An X-traordinary Origin Story following in September of 2022. Less than two years later, Ti West’s release of MaXXXine, the third film in the X franchise and sequel to X, has seemingly completed Maxxxine Minx’s story from fame seeking, up and coming adult film actress to rising horror film celebrity.
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The franchise has been led by fantastic performances by Mia Goth as both Maxine and Pearl, so it was only fitting to get a conclusion fit for a star. What could have been a worthwhile send-off to a memorable character results in a mismatched and messy conclusion that deviates from director Ti West’s clear vision and atmosphere of his previous two films.
It is the year 1985 in Los Angeles, California as Maxine (Mia Goth) auditions for the sequel to The Puritan, a B-horror film looking for a brand new face to co-star. Upon landing the role, Maxine’s life takes a turn when a killer named The Night Stalker is on the loose killing young women in Hollywood. With her past coming back to haunt her, Maxine must focus on nailing her new role in the midst of the police and The Night Stalker getting in the way of her path to stardom.
Also led by Elizabeth Debicki, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon Maxxxine shows promise but is completely mishandled. The film is not putting enough emphasis on what it strives to be, which is a “daylight noir” filled with 80s nostalgia. It feels like if Ti West felt so inclined to make this sort of film he should have done it outside of the X trilogy. The movie feels like it is trying to mimic this time period without creating a page in the book for itself and as a result feels hollow.
Maxxxine (2024) dir. Ti West pic.twitter.com/EkphTXPa96
— The Man Downstairs (@f0undfootage) July 8, 2024
The title character, Maxine, feels less developed than in X (2022), making her feel like a background character in her own film. The Maxine we know and love is seen in the beginning but begins to fade out in the last two thirds. Rather than feeling like she is at the center of her own life, it feels like the world instead is dictating what she does and where she goes, which is the total opposite of Maxine’s personality.
MaXXXine begins to turn into a “whodunit” noir that enjoys its campy plot twists. This wasn’t as much of an issue in the film itself but without the Maxine charm, strong 80s horror conventions, and a better link to its predecessors, Maxxxine did not fit in the realm of its own series. For a filmmaker who was able to surprise fans and critics with his handle on earlier decade horror with a modern feel, MaXXXine leaves no surprises for its audience and the messy script leads them in many directions as to Maxine’s end.
For a genre he is mimicking that often unravels character’s motives as an “I planned this all along,” this theory is plausible but makes the audience do more work putting the pieces together rather than West’s filmmaking himself. There are many clues pointing audience’s in different directions without a clear vision from West on how he intended to wrap up the franchise. Ambiguity can be fantastic in films but MaXXXine’s direction feels like West wasn’t able to finish what he started.
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If Ti West does in fact create a fourth film in the franchise, hopefully it mirrors the previous two movies. This movie was an unfortunate flop to end the “trilogy.” It was nice to see West have fun with the genre but he was not able to show he had enough of a strong handle on it for MaXXXine to reach star quality.
‘MaXXXine’ Rating – 2.5/5
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