MaXXXine Finally Becomes a Star

In MaXXXine (2024), Mia Goth’s titular character, Maxine Minx, is a woman reborn. She struts into the opening scene with no trace of the trauma she endured in her bloody slasher prequel, X (2022). However, this illusion soon dissolves; it’s Hollywood, 1985, and a killer stalking the sleazy, drug-ridden streets is seemingly intent on threatening both Maxine’s security and her ambitions of stardom.

When viewers last saw Maxine, she was with her friends on a farm in rural Texas. Attempting to become famous by filming a pornographic movie on the property, the group ran afoul of the psychopathic married duo Pearl (also played by Mia Goth) and Howard (Stephen Ure), rendering Maxine the sole survivor. Since then, much has changed: she’s blonde and has finally achieved fame as an adult film star in LA. Despite her relative success, Maxine’s thirst for greater fame and acclaim remains, and she aspires to become a mainstream movie star by breaking into the horror industry.

A murderer dubbed the “Night Stalker”—inspired by a real LA-based murderer active in 1985—presents danger Maxine at first steadfastly avoids in favor of her work in a slasher film, a potential breakthrough for her career. However, when the killer begins to pick off those surrounding her, including her costar Molly Bennett (Lily Collins) and best friend Leon (Moses Sumney), she is forced to confront her past. This conflict mirrors the struggle between the overtly sexual popular culture of the ‘80s and pushback from religious America, accusing rock-and-roll stars of satanism while protesting outside Maxine’s film set.

Because MaXXXine is likely the last film in Ti West’s X trilogy, comprised of X and the fan-favorite Pearl (2022), the movie is expected to be both a cohesive finale to Maxine’s story and just as good as its prequels. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite hit either mark. While entertaining from scene to scene, the plot is disjointed and uncompelling. When the Night Stalker, who lurks ominously in the shadows for the majority of the film through faceless shots, is finally revealed to be Maxine’s barely-mentioned father, any excitement dissipates into disappointment. The absence of foreshadowing and plot relevance makes this long-awaited reveal feel cheap and lazy.

The film attempts to make up for this lack of substance through aesthetics and cool cinematography, immersing viewers in Maxine’s gritty world of drugs and sex through many shots of bright neon signs and ominously dark alleyways. However, the few death scenes are lackluster for a slasher film, especially one preceded by such extravagantly over-the-top deaths as seen in Pearl and X. Despite this, when it wants to be, MaXXXine is decidedly more gruesome than its prequels, showing how Goth’s character has hardened and come into her own since surviving X. When Maxine orchestrates the brutal murder of a creepy detective (Kevin Bacon) by trapping him in a car that is then crushed in a garbage compactor, she is no longer a wide-eyed victim but a soon-to-be-star seizing her autonomy.

One of MaXXXine’s triumphs is giving its protagonist a fitting and hard-earned conclusion; Maxine’s long-awaited ascent into superstardom, propelled by the success of her new movie and the infamy of her final scuffle with the Night Stalker, feels like a fleshed-out conclusion to a character West has followed for three movies. This acts as both a victory for the Maxine of X, who first dreamt of being a star, and for Pearl, her almost-killer, who shared the same ruthless ambition but saw her dreams crushed in Pearl.

The costumes and makeup of the film also enhance Maxine’s character arc, portraying her rise from a wannabe-porn star in X to a true mainstream celebrity by the end of her story. Goth’s iconic bleached eyebrows remained constant, but Maxine’s rise to fame and power is told through her physical appearance. By MaXXXine’s conclusion, she has evolved from a small-town nobody in “trashy” sexed-up attire to a glamorous star adorned in glittering jewelry and perfectly coiffed blonde curls.

“I will not accept a life I do not deserve”: this is the mantra repeated by Goth, as either Maxine or Pearl, in all three films of the X trilogy. Maxine’s resolute belief in her own worth propels her survival and success, allowing her to emerge physically unscathed from not one but two bloodbaths. But as Maxine’s story finally closes and her mental stability wavers, likening her even more to Pearl, it becomes clear that her ruthless appetite for all-American celebrity status may be more dangerous than the sinister killers she’s fought off. This inescapable parallel between the two women is the true heart of West’s trilogy. Disappointingly, poor pacing and a lack of emotional depth renders MaXXXine lackluster compared to X and Pearl. But the movie’s essential purpose is to provide Maxine—and by extension, Pearl—with a final act she deserves, and in this regard, MaXXXine is a wholehearted success.