Time: 104 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Graphic violence, offensive language, drug use & sex scenes
Cast:
Mia Goth as Maxine Minx
Elizabeth Debicki as Elizabeth Bender
Moses Sumney as Leon
Michelle Monaghan as Det. Williams
Bobby Cannavale as Det. Torres
Halsey as Tabby Martin
Lily Collins as Molly Bennett
Giancarlo Esposito as Teddy Knight, Esq.
Kevin Bacon as John Labat
Director: Ti West

I quite liked Ti West’s X and Pearl, so I was interested in seeing his next movie MaXXXine. Mia Goth would reprise her character from X and it would take place during the 1980s, and that’s all I needed to know to have me on board with it. In the lead up to the movie, I was curious about the somewhat mixed reactions and having watched the movie, I understand them now.

The script for MaXXXine is really lacking. On one hand, I do appreciate how the narrative and style are distinctly different from X and Pearl. It has fun with the 1980s settings with the references and the technical aspects, including the production design. However, it gets a little too caught up with the homages and the settings, that it forgets to do much with it. As an example, characters suddenly go to the set of the Bates Motel (accompanied with expositional dialogue about how this was where they filmed Psycho), but the movie doesn’t utilize that set for anything particularly interesting or fun. MaXXXine starts out promising, and is entertaining for most of its runtime. But after a while, it becomes clear that much of the movie is skating on vibes, and it’s generally a fairly empty movie. This may be hyperbolic to say, but I get the feeling that I would enjoy the movie less on a rewatch. For a ‘vibes movie’, there are too many things happening in this plot, whether it be protagonist Maxine getting her big acting break in a horror movie, the paranoia and terror of the real-life Night Stalker, killings of people close to Maxine prompting a murder investigation, and a lot more. Whereas the first two movies benefitted from being simple and having a smaller scale, MaXXXine is on a larger scale and has a lot of characters and storylines, and none of their conclusions are satisfying. It has a lot of underdeveloped ideas and wasted opportunities which don’t add up to anything. Even the mystery aspect about the killer isn’t that interesting, and doesn’t have a good payoff. The third act has been criticised repeatedly in other reviews, and unfortunately I agree with them. The tone shifts to a point where it feels cartoonish and very silly. Unfortunately, it’s not even so silly that it comes around to being absurdly entertaining and memorable. It’s just silly enough that it is hard to take any of the dangers and threats towards the end seriously. It also feels so unbelievably rushed and underwhelming, it legitimately felt like it was hastily reshot.

Mia Goth reprises her character of Maxine and is once again great, carrying much of the movie. It’s also commendable considering that this is the least compelling writing she’s been given in this trilogy. There isn’t much to Maxine as a character in the movie, nor her journey or development. The movie has assembled a talented supporting cast, including Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale and Lily Collins. Unfortunately, most of the actors aren’t in the movie nearly enough, despite being good and fun in their parts. That said, a couple of performances stood out to me. One was Giancarlo Esposito, who is having a lot of fun as Maxine’s manager, and the other was Kevin Bacon who is also having fun chewing the scenery as a sleazy private detective. I really wished we saw them a lot more. There is another performance that stood out, but for all the wrong reasons, and is among the many reasons why the third act just didn’t work for me.

Ti West returns to direct the third movie, and the direction is certainly stylish. He definitely goes all out with the 1980s aesthetic with the sets, costumes and overall look, and I liked the style of the editing. One aspect that is genuinely memorable is the violence and gore. It is absolutely brutal and memorable, and the practical effects are great. It is also accompanied by a good soundtrack and score, which fit the mood of the film.

MaXXXine is by far the worst of the X trilogy, with a messy script and an underwhelming third act. But it’s an enjoyable enough horror thriller, with stylish direction, and good performances led by a great Mia Goth. If you aren’t a fan of X or Pearl though, I don’t think you’ll be into MaXXXine at all.