MaXXXine Stars Mia Goth and is Directed by Ti West
MaXXXine has a handful of worthwhile moments, but the movie ultimately ricochets between two different sides of Ti West’s mind: the throwback B-movie auteur with a great taste for kills and the heady screenwriter with something to say about the industry he works in. It’s unfortunate that MaXXXine doesn’t strike that balance often, and it’s easy to tell when he’s switching from one gear to the next. Mia Goth reprises her scream queen role as the titular film star.
MaXXXine Review
MaXXXine closes out Ti West’s ongoing A24 horror trilogy, bringing Mia Goth back to reprise her role as the titular actress attempting to transition from a life in the adult film industry to Hollywood movie star. But as we’ve seen with West’s pastiche-heavy work these prior two films, Maxine’s ties to her past keep catching up with her in ways she can’t help. This go around, the movie takes the form of a mid-1980s slasher crossed with a technicolor giallo picture. A perfect combination of time, space, and design that seems right up my alley.
And I’ll admit that I’ve been a soft admirer of Ti West‘s X and Pearl up to this point, believing that they both signal him as an important pillar in modern horror and a historian of the genre he consistently finds himself working in. The imitator sometimes stays as just that, with 2009‘s The House of the Devil already proving his ability to recreate the techniques and style of a time for a genre long before him. But it’s been a blast to see West recreate different eras of filmmaking within these movies, like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-like approach to X and a technicolor The Wizard of Oz-like one to Pearl. He’s imitating, but often repurposing as well. A practice I can applaud as long as it feels consistently genuine, sincere, and also boundary-pushing.
Yet the entire time, MaXXXine works at a self-congratulatory pace, as if it thinks its smarter and cooler than it actually is. The references aren’t deep, the violence isn’t gaudy enough, and Ti West’s screenplay doesn’t do much to match the rather pinpoint set design and pastiche. It’s fun throwback cosplay, but this giallo/slasher hybrid struggles to decide whether it wants to be a mindless throwback with good vibes, or one that comments on the current affairs of Hollywood.
So the best part of MaXXXine becomes hanging out with the diverse cast of character actors that do their best to fill time. Surrounding Mia Goth with celebrated performers like Giancarlo Esposito and Elizabeth Debicki helps elevate the floor of MaXXXine and slightly raises its ceiling. Esposito plays the hardnosed agent of the burgeoning film star, and Debicki plays a knowingly self-serious director working on a so-so genre sequel of The Puritan II that becomes a big hit. Many of the characters like these help build out the smarmy depths of Hollywood, but they never become more than that. The commentary isn’t made with much heft. Instead, you’re left to try to pick out the pieces of a film that stretches itself too thin.
And the third act could’ve used some work – although I can see what Ti West was trying even though this act of the movie has been getting panned quite harshly by critics. Maxine confronts the infamous Nightstalker serial killer, who is a character from her past there to confront her for her past sins. I think this trilogy of West’s horror movies works best when loosely connected, often alluded to rather than rehashed to further the plot. These final 20 minutes directly linked to the movies that come before it, and while the themes begin to synthesize between the projects, the execution is mostly lackluster and anticlimactic.
There are some worthwhile moments in MaXXXine – and the environment is often fun to hang out in despite the murderous events taking place – but the movie ultimately ricochets between two different sides of Ti West’s mind: the throwback B-movie auteur with a great taste for kills and the heady screenwriter with something to say about the industry he works in. It’s unfortunate that MaXXXine doesn’t strike that balance often, and it’s easy to tell when he’s switching from one gear to the next. It’s probably for the better that West is moving on to new projects, but I hope we see him try to rejuvenate these past horror subgenres again in the future.
Score: 6/10
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MaXXXine Film Cast and Credits
MaXXXine Cast
Mia Goth as Maxine Minx
Elizabeth Debicki as Elizabeth Bender
Moses Sumney as Leon
Michelle Monaghan as Detective Williams
Bobby Cannavale as Detective Torres
Halsey as Tabby Martin
Lily Collins as Molly Bennett
Giancarlo Esposito as Teddy Knight
Kevin Bacon as John Labat
Simon Prast as Ernest Miller
MaXXXine Credits
Director: Ti West
Writer: Ti West
Cinematography: Eliot Rockett
Editor: Ti West
Composer: Tyler Bates
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