In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. However, as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Los Angeles, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.
“I will not accept a life that I do not deserve”, should be rephrased to “I will not accept a movie that I do not deserve.” MaXXXine is the final installment of Ti West’s “X Trilogy” starring Mia Goth. After the provocative and acclaimed horror films that were X and Pearl, my expectations for MaXXXine were through the roof. Yet surprisingly enough, I found myself disappointed with MaXXXine, as it felt remarkably safe and undercooked.
Let me explain the positives before I get all downer on this film. I love the fact that MaXXXine is stuffed to the brim with genre nods of the 80s. From the beautifully done practical gore effects to the bright fake blood, it has all the elements of a fun B horror movie. And when the film embraces these fun, campy elements, it’s at its best. Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon easily give the best performances as they fully embrace the camp of their characters. Furthermore, MaXXXine has some of the best needle drops of the year as you jam to some of the best hits of the mid-eighties. However, once you get past the glitz and glamour, the film feels undercooked, and that is because of Maxine herself.
Maxine is not a particularly compelling character in MaXXXine. This is no fault of Mia Goth as she does the best with what she has to work with, but she is woefully underutilized as Maxine becomes a non-character. She is either running from someone or is just wandering around, she has no interesting character traits outside of a few scenes. She doesn’t feel like a character in this world. When her friends are being murdered, she is emotionally voided and her avoiding the help from the police just makes it even worse. Then when she finally reacted to one of the deaths, I felt nothing as their relationship had no development, and the film never put an effort to develop it. Yes, the deaths were well executed, no pun intended, but the aftermath was voided of any emotional stakes.
At least the story did some of the heavy lifting in terms of giving the film some stakes, or at least for the first two acts. The first two acts are a wonderfully fun blend of neo-noir, B horror, and stoner comedy, that was compelling to watch. Even though, I could see the twist coming from miles away, it was still an interesting mystery. Then the final act came which nearly derailed the entire movie. What initially started as an unsettling twist immediately turned into a corny cliche, that was hard to take seriously.
Overall, MaXXXine has a severe identity crisis that relies on nostalgia and great practical effects to do the heavy lifting as its story, theme, and characters are just left behind. MaXXXine is a disappointing ending to what could have been one of the best film trilogies in recent memory, but instead, it fumbled the ball and became a half-baked idea.
My Rating: C
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