Maxxxine goes to Hollywood

After the stylized gore and delightfully depraved storytelling of ‘X’, the subverted dreamland of ‘Pearl’, director Ti West’s third offering ‘Maxxxine’ was somewhat disappointing.

Mia Goth reprised her role as Maxine and was every bit the ethereal horror movie icon. The audience is led around the twisted world of 1980’s Hollywood complete with a killer soundtrack and crunchy-looking hairdos. The character of Maxine wants to be a legitimate actress rather than an adult film star. In ‘X’ Maxine repeatedly states that she wants to be famous, in ‘Maxxxine’ she is famous as an adult film star. Many of the male characters recognize her from her work, so Maxine has achieved the fame she was desperate for but wants to legitimize herself as an actress despite her dark past following her to Tinseltown. 

Kevin Bacon was also an unexpected treat as the slimy PI. The rest of the cast was stellar, each imbuing their characters with enough quirk and intrigue, to make what essentially was a pretty basic storyline; entertaining. Elizabeth Debicki particularly shines as the female horror director who sees Maxine’s potential and casts the aspiring actress in her horror sequel (Meta anyone?). Debicki is every bit as intimidating and impressive as her amazing shoulder pads!

It’s not that ‘Maxxxine’ “jumps the shark” exactly, I can understand wanting to give your trilogy a big finish. However, the production’s desire to go big meant that ‘Maxxxine’ lost the delicious claustrophobia its previous installments had that works so well in the horror genre. Maybe its because we are no longer in the grips of a worldwide pandemic, ‘Pearl’ and ‘X’ were filmed back-to-back in March 2021, ‘Maxxxine’ didn’t have the building sense of dread that served the others so well.

‘Maxxxine’ is not constructed like a traditional horror instead more like a thriller or crime drama. Yet, the kill scenes still remain inventive and disturbing; the alleyway scene lives rent-free in my head for better or worse! Despite all the pro’s ‘Maxxxine’ is just missing that special something (dare I say that ‘X factor’?) which elevates it from a basic slasher movie. The layer of realism added to the first half of ‘Maxxxine’ feels like it’s shaking off the tentative optimism of ‘X’ and the technicolor delusions of ‘Pearl’ in order to mature into the real cutthroat world of showbiz. This angle could have worked if the direction had stuck to it. Instead, the storyline becomes increasingly more convoluted.

The penultimate scene is an outlandish mess highlighted by the fact it takes place under the looming Hollywood sign. With added guns and helicopters it’s easy to forget the humble barn that started Maxine’s story. Whether it was too much studio intervention, the curse of the doomed finale of a trilogy, or Ti West forgetting that scaling back scenes has the most impact. The sensory of assault of ‘Maxxxine’s’ finale does not unnerve the audience the same way Pearl’s flinching, tear-filled unnatural smile still does. 

‘Maxxxine’ is still an entertaining watch. Fans of the unofficial trilogy will enjoy seeing how Maxine’s story ends. But after both ‘X’ and ‘Pearl’ became, quite rightly, instant horror classics, this fan expected more.