Title: MaXXXine
MPA Rating: R
Director: Ti West
Starring: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

What It Is: Following the treacherous events of X, Maxine Minx (Goth) has since left her adult film career behind to pursue being a Hollywood actress and is about to nab her big break through a role on The Puritan II, directed by an artistically driven filmmaker (Debicki). But as time to shooting draws closer, so does a mysterious serial murderer dubbed ‘The Night Stalker’ as he manipulates and kills people in Maxine’s life and has drastic plans for the titular heroine herself as they’re mysterious connection is made clear. As he closes in, Maxine is forced again to resort to her wits and grit to triumph over evil and take her life into her own hands.

What We Think: I WILL NOT ACCEPT A LIFE I DO NOT DESERVE!! — every hot kino girl screamed simultaneously. But seriously–the X series has, as far as we’re aware, wrapped as a modern horror trilogy that consistently delivers a variety of scares and laughs, thanks to West’s direction and creative pursuits and obvious admiration of film throughout the ages.  Each of the three films impressively offer something within the tropes of horror, yet show the range of how different and entertaining they all can be, no matter how simple. X we had references to southern gothic 70s horror, Pearl was an ostentatious character study inspired by the technicolor and melodramas of the 40s and 50s, and Maxxxine delivers delicious camp and color as a love letter to 80s video nasties and slashers. While this film continues the X canon, it does take quite a tonally and thematic turn away as a sequel, which may be somewhat dissatisfying for some who loved the first film and its Texas Chainsaw Massacre-inspired, gory, sexy antics and make Maxxxine feel much smaller and frankly flatter in comparison, but I’m comfortable and a fan enough of the 80s slasher genre and era enough to eat up what it is Ti West and Mia Goth are serving. I enjoyed the hell out of Maxxxine, the one film out of this trilogy that tops as THE most sardonic, campy, unserious, tongue-in-cheek, goofy, and comedic entry, and in times of great stress and adult-onset depression, a package like this is hugely appreciated. You BET I ate this violent, funny, trashy bit up. From the one-liners, to the cameos, to the kills, I was clapping and kicking and screaming in the theater like a little kid (it was mostly empty other than other X fans, so I’m valid). Technically, it’s a pretty ok-looking movie, but considering its existence as an homage and frame for its titular star, is also quite impressive in the replication of the time period and the films that came out within it. Hell, even the dialogue is flat, expositional, punchline-y and cheesy, much to its credit. It’s a joy to see a movie made because of a bunch of low-budget, unpopular, oddball old movies I love, and Ti is a baller for making this the third and presumably final film in the franchise, leaving us on a pretty happy note. It’s not a big-brain kind of watch, hopefully we won’t see too much of the army of video essayists telling us what this movie ACTUALLY about, this is a legit popcorn film experience; a Barbie for the film-history loving girls, guys, and gays who jerk off to bloody practical visual effects and cunty one-liners. And again, as someone who fell in love with our heroine immediately upon our first scene with her–an adult film actress with big dreams, a unique set of beauty marks that resemble a blood splatter, and is destined for violence, snacking on an absurd amount of white powder while empowering herself in the mirror–this film makes for one of my favorite releases of the year.

But, alas, I am still a critic and must answer the call to my criticisms, as even God is not without his imperfections. Which is to say I did have one major problem with the movie that its predecessors got right, wherein the characters suffered greatly in a severe lack of character. While this was likely excused as a stylistic decision to continue the theme of its derivative nature, the supporting cast of characters came and went quickly, having me imagine a good majority of the actors were only given a few days at most to work on the movie at all. Yeah, I was drawn-in by the random big-name casting–Halsey, Moses, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Sophie Thatcher, AND Michelle Monoghan? Fuck it, I said, I’m all in. But instead of characters, what it really felt like was the movie was running through its plot, and consequently famous faces flash across the screen for only a few scenes at a time without much weight to hold them to the plot, or within memory at all, especially for Halsey and Moses who, I’m sure are busy as extremely successful and popular musicians but whose characters were sadly barely there or worth having in the film at all as they only reside in a few empty scenes, feeling like they had less to say and do than they would have in an SNL sketch. I think a good amendment to this would be to have gotten rid of those characters altogether so the other supporting characters could have more screentime to develop, or to have written them in more scenes and given them more personality and details in general. Filmmakers like the Safdies, Coens, and Harmony Korine are fantastic at giving small supporting characters enough room and space to play to have a real impact on the movies they make, which is why I wish more of an effort was made here. There was so much more potential in utilizing the entire cast, as we experienced with X where all of the characters were thoroughly entertaining, full of life, and all had something to say. For whatever reason that is unfortunately not the case here and its my biggest (but thankfully the only) drawback for the film.

Our Grade: B+, the perfect solid B-movie of the summer and a nice little horror-cool down before we get to see some more heavy and serious scary films for the rest of the year, Maxxxine is the movie to flock to when we need to blow off some steam, and enjoy eating up the strange and tumultuous rise of the all-too-talented and Oscar-snubbed Mia Goth returning as the Maxine Minx as she takes life by the balls and, well, fucking crushes it, inspiring us to return to our lives once the credits roll and do the same.