MaXXXine embraces the ‘80s theme of excess to a fault as it the finale of Ti West’s trilogy lacks ingenuity and hides behind having many ideas and themes without ever actually exploring them. Some may try to say that’s part of the ‘80s trappings West is purposefully using, but to be the third entry in a franchise that previously had so much to say and come up completely hollow, MaXXXine is the ultimate disappointment.

Ti West created a trilogy full of sleaze, violence, sex, and grime while exploring themes of repression, desire, aging, and more first with X and then soon after with Pearl, but MaXXXine is a hollow departure with nothing to say (especially when comparing to the first two installments). Many will argue this film is a ‘love letter’ to ‘80s slashers or video stores, giallos, Hollywood backlots, practical effects, or Hollywood, West glides over each topic so quickly without ever showing a real interest in any of it. Sure, it could all be dressing to set up this bonkers finale but when the first two installments have so much to say, it’s frustrating to see MaXXXine do its best Brian De Palma impersonation versus West wrap up an iconic (titular) character. 

The film opens with footage similar to what is seen in X with a televangelist talking to a young girl that we learn is Maxine Minx as she says her mantra, “I will not accept a life I do not deserve.”  Cut to 1985, a few years after the “Texas Porn Star Massacre” from X, with X’s final girl, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), in Hollywood. While she hasn’t become the star she’s always dreamed of, she’s a major adult film actress and she’s looking to transition to the Hollywood pictures. In the opening scene in the film’s present day, Maxine walks confidently onto a soundstage to audition for a new movie from director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki). While Elizabeth studies Maxine without saying anything, the rest of the film’s crew asks crude question after crude question trying to scare Maxine from auditioning due to her porn background. Maxine crushes the audition proving she’s the star we all know and love while giving a monologue filled with a warning for Maxine herself that her bloody past is coming back to haunt her. 

As soon as Maxine lands her dream Hollywood role in ‘The Puritan II,’ bodies of those she holds dear start to pile up much like what happened in Texas. West attempts to intertwine the themes of Satanic Panic and use the Night Stalker to help set up the palpable terror inflicting Los Angeles during this time. It should have been easy to connect the story of Richard Ramirez thematically to Maxine’s story and the deaths surrounding her, but West doesn’t seem interested in doing so…. which makes it hard to understand why to include it at all. It’s never used as a plot device other than detectives quickly dismissing cops excusing any pentagram as the Night Stalker’s signature. There’s a moment in MaXXXine where it seems possibly the PTSD of what happened in Texas to Maxine will be explored, but it’s dismissed as soon as it’s shown and never fully explored. Survivor guilt could have made such an interesting theme not only in this world West has created but also to see Goth play out on screen. 

While both X and Pearl feel they masterfully capture the feeling of films from the era they’re portraying, MaXXXine feels like a hollow imitation of what it hopes to be an homage to. The film fails to embody the true highs of what made ‘80s cinema, and specifically slashers, so special. As the film progresses, the plot makes less and less sense as it becomes filled with references from Dressed to Kill to Peeping Tom to Chinatown to Suspiria and eventually tries to add a Mulholland Drive esque plot. MaXXXine feels almost too sanitized as West tries to pack on the sleaze and grit and it’s almost mechanical, which is shocking after how palpable the scum oozing off the screen was in both X and Pearl. While there are incredibly impressive uses of practical gore and a couple of memorable kills, nothing feels as slimy and authentic as you’d hope to find in an ‘80s follow up to X. The devices used to set the latest Maxine Minx entry are entirely too obvious from blood splattering all over VHS tapes in a rental store to ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ playing as Maxine beats up Kevin Bacon’s private investigator. These instances just feel they’re mimicking what West loves about ’80s slashers instead of actually bringing them to life. 

Despite using Satanic Panic amidst archival clips of Ronald Reagan, Tipper Gore, Dee Snider, and tons of news footage of the Night Stalker, West wasn’t interested in exploring the creation of a faux evil uprising by politicians, it was all background noise. It is that clear West wants a commentary on Hollywood to be the main theme of MaXXXine, however, it’s never pulled off, despite how obvious he makes it. Director Elizabeth Bender delivers monologue after monologue of how Hollywood views directors, sequels, women, art, and the industry and despite a standout performance from Debicki, it all feels meaningless. It’s never explored, just delivered sharply to the audience without being of use to the plot or the visuals within the scene. The blunt connection of Maxine escaping being a pastor’s daughter to now starring in a horror film in the ‘Puritan’ franchise is only made worse by the over-the-top (and obvious from the first 2 minutes) reveal in the final act. While the exploration of how the church marketed Hollywood exploitation during the set of Satanic Panic could have been a thrilling theme within this entry, West never digs deep. He uses it just as dressing for a film where somehow both too much happens and nothing at all. 

In MaXXXine, West attempts to critique Hollywood as a place that lures in artists and exploits them until there’s nothing left of them, yet he has absolutely nothing to say. The sleaze and grit you expect here comes across manufactured and never feels like the real thing. The studio gleam almost feels too much as this trilogy attempts to become mainstream. Some may try to say that’s part of the ‘80s trappings West is purposefully using, but to be the third entry in a franchise that has had so much to explore previously and come up completely hollow, MaXXXine is the ultimate disappointment. 

Grade: C-

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: None

Release Date: July 5, 2024
Where to Watch: In Theaters