Written and Directed by Ti West
Starring Mia Goth, Giancarlo Esposito, Elizabeth Debicki, Kevin Bacon, Simon Prast, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, and Halsey

Sadly, I did not get the pleasure of reviewing MaXXXine’s predecessor’s, X and Pearl, as I discovered X quite some time after its release. Those films, and especially Mia Goth’s characters and performances, were just great and a real treat for horror movie aficionados. Sadly again, this direct sequel to X, while still quite good, is the weakest of the three films.  

In 1985, Maxine Minx (the fabulous Mia Goth) is well-established and successful in the adult entertainment industry, but as she approaches 33, her dreams to make a global name for herself in more mainstream media are at their peak. So, off she trots with her ultra-confident gait and attitude in pursuit of the lead role in Hollywood horror flick The Puritan II. After excellently executing her audition and making a heck of an impression on Elizabeth (played by Golden Globe winning actress Elizabeth Debicki for portraying Princess Diana in Netflix series The Crown), a British filmmaker working on The Puritan II, Maxine lands the part. As early preparations for her first major role commence, a serial killer branded as the “Night Stalker” begins terrorising the streets of Los Angeles. When the unidentified assailant sends a personal threat Maxine’s way, suggesting she may be next on his hit list, her dreams of becoming a bona fide star are placed into jeopardy.

As he has showcased in the X film series to date, writer and director Ti West has many good ideas to incorporate both on paper and in front of camera. MaXXXine is no exception. The curious injection of Kevin Bacon’s character, a private investor who’s a bit of a stalker himself that won’t take no for an answer and LAPD detectives Williams and Torres (played by Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale, respectively), in charge of investigating the crimes committed by the “Night Stalker” to find him, are a couple more. That’s on paper and contributes to what transpires on screen of course. Productionally speaking, MaXXXine is attractively filmed and features an immersive music score. In fact, the film has been purposefully made just the way it would have been if filmed in the 1980s era it is set.

As it turns out, however, MaXXXine overdoes it with the stimulating foreplay and turns rather flaccid before reaching its underwhelming climax. 

Each of its story components, most of which are mentioned in this review, while interesting enough and fitting to be here, never quite work well together in the one movie. They could have though. The problem here is their impact on the tone, duration, and genre of this film. MaXXXine feels undecided in what exactly it wants to be as it dabbles in slasher-movie genre and tries to generate some mystery and intrigue via one or two characters among all else but isn’t consistent enough at either to really build any serious momentum. It also becomes rather sluggish. One opportunity I feel this film missed is to have utilised Maxine’s horror movie lead role to derive psychological drama and intrigue, which in turn could also have enmeshed itself with the slasher-movie component. Furthermore, a couple of things are missing here for me that made X and Pearl so memorable and great. MaXXXine doesn’t continue to develop its brilliant titular character. Or at least not to the same extent its predecessors did. Also, Mia Goth deserved and MaXXXine needed another classic scene akin to that of Pearl’s closing credits but is without one. 

A somewhat lame and weakened third act further contributes to this third instalment being bound to disappoint fans of the film series and horror fans alike, but Ti West has publicly said that this might not be the last we see of the glorious Maxine!

MaXXXine is showing in cinemas across Australia from July 11th.

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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