Ti West likes to create horror tales of a different skew than most. He does so with his latest, the psychological horror film MAXXXINE. I’m personally not too familiar with his work beyond that, so I did not know that it is actually the third in a trilogy titled the X film series. They are horror films based on an original story written by West. The series, to date, includes the original film X, its prequel Pearl (both from 2022), and this 2024 movie. The overall plot of the movie centers on two characters, Maxine “Max” Minx and Pearl, both portrayed by Mia Goth. I guess the triple X in her name is a way of denoting the third in the series.
In the first movie, a team of amateur filmmakers in 1979 are determined to create a new cinematic experience in the adult film industry. Aspiring actress Maxine Minx, the girlfriend of the leading producer, stars in the production. An older couple, enticed by a big payout, rent their cabin as a locale for the film, not knowing it is x-rated fare. When the woman, Pearl, sees the debauchery she snaps and sets out to slaughter them all. In Pearl, the prequel set in 1918, watchers will learn just how Pearl became prone to homicidal rages. It seems her restrictive parents didn’t take shine to her quest to be a movie star. It makes her snap. Then that leads us to MAXXINE, which made its debut on Max & HBO on October 18 & 19, respectively.
It is now 1985 during the height of the Night Stalker murders in L. A. and Maxine Max has just landed her first legitimate mainstream movie role. Not only does she want to keep and nail this important gig she also has to fight off the starlet slayer and a P.I. who is investigating her past. She will do it, I’m guessing in bloody, gutsy action.
Mia Goth reprises her role as Maxine Minx alongside Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon. Rotten Tomatoes sums it all up this way –
