Review: 'MaXXXine' finishes off Ti West's 'X' trilogy with a scathing, blood-drenched commentary on Hollywood ambition
The horror thriller “MaXXXine” is as drenched in ‘80s camp and film references as it is in blood, as writer-director Ti West concludes the trilogy that started with “X” and “Pearl” with a sharp satire of Hollywood ruthlessness.
The trilogy’s star, Mia Goth, returns as Maxine Minx, who was an innocent first-time porn actress who barely survived the massacre at a Texas farm in “X.” That was in 1979; now it’s 1985, and Maxine is an established porn star in Tinseltown, but has designs on something bigger. When we first see Maxine here, she’s auditioning for a real Hollywood movie.
The movie for which Maxine is auditioning is “The Puritan II,” a controversy-courting horror thriller about Satan worship. Its director, Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) calls herself an artist, making “a B-movie with A-ideas,” and sees in Maxine a spark — a determination to do “whatever it takes” to become a movie star. But Bender and Maxine must contend with nervous producers, as well as the many protesters outside the studio gates decrying the “Satanic” influences on Hollywood.
Of course, since we saw “X,” we know what Maxine is capable of doing to stay alive. Somebody else seems to know, as well, and is leaving threatening messages for her. That someone, we quickly learn, is a sleazy private detective, John Labat (Kevin Bacon, reveling in his character’s low-life status).
But what we don’t know is who Labat’s client is — and what connection, if any, that client has to the string of murders happening around Hollywood, attributed to someone called “The Night Stalker.” Within a few minutes of the movie’s opening, two of Maxine’s sex-worker colleagues (played by Chloe Farnsworth and the singer Halsey), disappear, and two LAPD detectives (Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale) are coming around to ask Maxine about them.
West — who directed, wrote and edited the movie — sets up scenes to evoke both ‘80s history (such as the infamous “satanic panic” scares) and old movies, particularly in the suspense genre. (When Bender takes Maxine on a tour of the backlot, the last stop is the Bates Motel, and later there’s a callback to Hitchcock’s shot of a shower drain in “Psycho.”) And, when called upon, he delivers the blood and gore that a horror movie requires, sometimes quite cleverly.
If there’s a weakness, it’s the ending that West settles on after all the buildup — which manages to be both out of left field and utterly predictable all at once.
The supporting cast boasts some sharp, brief performances by Giancarlo Esposito as Maxine’s fiercely loyal agent, Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackers”) as a special-effects artist, Moses Sumney as Maxine’s video-store best pal and Lily Collins as a seasoned horror actress.
First and foremost, though, “MaXXXine” belongs to Goth, who channels every California hard-luck story and hand-wringing warning about Hollywood’s bad influences into a searing portrait of show business ambition run wild. It’s as intense a performance as Goth gave in “Pearl,” and just as compelling.
——
“MaXXXine”
★★★
Opens Friday, July 5, in theaters everywhere. Rated R for strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity and drug use. Running time: 104 minutes.