MaXXXine Review
Ti West’s MaXXXine moves away from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre-inspired grit and into an ‘80s horror-thriller driven by its Law & Order undertones. As an experimenter who likes integrating new styles, West has been able to invigorate the X franchise with new life all while improving his own vision. Though it might pull back on the blood and gore, MaXXXine’s dramatic mystery, great performances, and poppy cinematography will keep viewers hooked.
The latest installment in the X films continues the story of Mia Goth’s Maxine Minx in an extremely religious 1980s Hollywood. In her journey to becoming a famous actress, a vicious killer known as the Night Stalker has been targeting her very closely. Forced to confront this threat, her work as an entertainer, and her inner self, Maxine must do whatever it takes to get what she wants.
While MaXXXine’s cast is truly star-studded, Mia Goth still manages to bring an outstanding performance. The first film may have showcased Maxine’s conflicted personality, but Goth builds upon this by truly emphasizing the character’s confident resilience and her fear of the past. She may have survived X’s barbaric elderly couple, but she is still emotionally reeling from her actions due to the fact that Hollywood might not accept what she’s done. The film builds this interesting problem for Maxine to face once she inexplicably involves those she knows and meets later on.
This especially goes for her agent Teddy Knight, Esq., played by Giancarlo Esposito, and an investigator hired to look deep into her life, Kevin Bacon’s John Labat. Both characters, who are very charismatic in their own ways, represent the two extreme ends of the ‘80s entertainment political fervor and help push the film’s main idea. Sure, there are those, like Knight, that hold sympathy for those who made mistakes. However, there are still many who are driven to be harbingers of intervention, which Labat slowly transforms into.
There are also those who help Maxine become further confident such as rising director Elizabeth Debicki’s Elizabeth Bender and Michelle Monaghan’s Detective Williams. Their empowering, “push forward” attitude serves as a perfect catalyst for Maxine’s growth, which is felt near the film’s second half. In the time of Reagan prejudices, women, especially those with power, had to look out for each other. As such, it gives these two characters different shades of compassion that proudly establish these diverse dynamics of power.
Furthermore, MaXXXine’s murder mystery of who the Night Stalker is keeps a smooth flow even in its wild final act. While its runtime may be brisk, each scene holds a lot of tension thanks to some constant hints emphasized by creative cinematography. West’s choices, formed by Eliot Rockett’s cinematography, pulls from classic films to put into perspective how terrifying of a situation this is. There’s a specific sequence between John and Maxine late into the film that conveys this weight of terror as he hunts her throughout the Universal set lot.
These hints dropped throughout the film show how the killer seems to know every detail. For those who looked closely into the deeper details of Maxine’s character history, the reveal could be extremely surprising or peculiar. Nonetheless, it was able to capitalize on a present ideological ideal established through this setting.
While most aspects of MaXXXine successfully captured the thriller elements West built in these films, the gory kills that the franchise is known for are pulled back. Most of them are shown or told off-screen, but they are still effective enough to propel the story forward. This is mostly due to MaXXXine being more of an action-crime drama rather than a horror-thriller.
When those moments do happen, they are presented in very inventive ways. For example, there is one that flips between the action happening and Maxine prepping for her performance and it feels incredibly personal. There is also another one in the beginning that is very hard to get into, but it perfectly executes its squash (pun intended!)
Overall, while not as gory as its predecessors, Ti West’s MaXXXine is still a thrilling psycho-thriller flick that happily blends ‘80s cop drama vibes with the world cultivated around West’s unstoppable final girl.
MaXXXine will be released in theaters July 5.
Rating
★★★★☆
_
Christopher Gallardo is a freelance entertainment writer and critic. While not running The Reel Roller, Chris can be found writing reviews and breakdowns on all things films and TV. Outside of entertainment writing, he’s currently taking classes for a Bachelor’s of Science with a minor in Digital Media & Journalism. Plus, he loves Percy Jackson, animated films and shows, and Fallout! Follow Christopher on Instagram & X.