An Aspiring Actress Tries to Survive More Than Just Show Business

Mia Goth in "MaXXXine"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In 2022, writer-director Ti West gave moviegoers not just the first installment, but also the second installment of his “X” trilogy with “X” and the prequel “Pearl.”  By doing so, he offered two of the best horror films of that year and made leading actress Mia Goth into one of the topmost performers to be working in the genre today.  Since the release of “Pearl,” audiences have been waiting to see how West would cap off his story of amateur actress Maxine Minx (Goth) trying to make it to the big time.

West finally presents his trilogy’s conclusion with “MaXXXine,” a thrilling finale that brings us to not just a new decade, but a new setting as we get pulled into a deadly journey with the titular character.

Maxine Minx is an adult-film actress who wishes to be taken seriously in the movie industry.  When she’s offered the lead in a horror film, Maxine uses this as a chance to prove herself.  However, when a serial killer known as “The Night Stalker’ begins terrorizing the streets of Hollywood, Maxine will have to do what she can to not become the next victim.

Goth provided excellent performances in “X” and “Pearl” that cemented her as one of cinema’s newest queens of horror, and she displays just as much command of the screen in this film.  Goth exhibits a duality of her character’s movie-star-wannabe confidence and a sense of someone who knows that she might be out of her depth.  Maxine has a masterful opening scene where she walks into an audition with a don’t-underestimate-me attitude as she tries to show that she’s more than people give her credit for.  However, this makes her scenes of trepidation on the sets of the horror movie all the more engaging because we see how much she has to lose, wanting to impress her director and knowing she has so few chances to do it.  Maxine knows how to fight for what she wants, but she doesn’t quite know how to fight to keep it once she has it, and that latter factor is fascinating to watch as Goth shows Maxine trying to develop into the person she wants to be.

The film has a terrific supporting cast, but the two standouts are Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Debicki.  Bacon is a lot of fun to watch as a sleazy private investigator who worms his way into Maxine’s life and tries to derail her career.  He eats up the role as someone who won’t stop pursuing his target until his goals are met.  Meanwhile, Debicki is endlessly magnetic as the film director of Maxine’s latest project, an individual who demands perfection and takes Maxine under her wing.  Just like Goth, Debicki shows how her character is aware of how much her potential career is riding on her film production, and it’s fascinating to see her and Goth interact as their characters express the same vivid desire to become Hollywood underdog successes.

The screenplay by West has a bit of a pacing issue in the third act (we seem to simply arrive at the big reveal rather than build towards it), but it’s nevertheless a fun murder mystery that also dives into the controversy surrounding Hollywood in the 1980s when it came to violence and adult content in the media.  West shows it all in great detail as he crafts a narrative that has this Hollywood tension tie into Maxine’s past in intriguing ways as the danger on the show-business streets continues to close in on her, and this assists in adding layers to her character.  Just as West did with Maxine in “X” and the titular character in “Pearl,” he’s adept at letting us get to know the lead character in between the scares, making this a trilogy that’s every bit as much about building a character as it is about the frights.  All of this puts West’s horror-storytelling passion on display as we learn about Maxine both through her journey and through the company that she keeps and avoids.

The cinematography by Eliott Rockett (who lensed several of West’s films, including “X” and “Pearl”), masters the mood of the setting, particularly the lighting of the seedy establishments that the characters populate.  His camera movements capture the griminess of the environments, especially using lighting techniques that emphasize low lighting or red lighting that help us descend into the environment out of which Maxine needs to climb in order to live a better life.

As a director, West not only presents the details of 1980s Hollywood in dedicated detail, but he also crafts the movie to have its bloodier scenes have the look of an ‘80s horror movie.  To do so, he uses practical effects that exemplify a slasher movie gross-out factor that will make you squirm several times as the body count rises and the sense of dread increases with each scene.  Similar to the other two films in his trilogy, we get a full sense of West’s cinematic influences as he mixes them with his ideas to create a terrific blend of scares, period detail, atmosphere, and memorable performances.

For horror fans and general moviegoers, they should feel lucky to have seen West complete his story in his fullest vision.  This series had him leave his mark on modern horror, and with “MaXXXine,” he has the trilogy go out in style.

Grade: A-