Let’s get this out of the way early: writer/director Ti West’s trilogy-capping MaXXXine is no Pearl. The bones of greatness are certainly there, though, and with a firmer handle on what it wants to be, West’s latest could’ve been an all-timer. ’80s Hollywood revived through B-movie gore and era-faithful styling? Mia Goth blowing minds (again)? Kevin Bacon as an amoral PI who becomes tougher and tougher to look at as the story progresses? Giancarlo Esposito cheesin’ it up as a shady talent agent? Colour us invested! Unfortunately, the ghost of a better film hangs over the whole picture, making its actual contents all the more fascinating and frustrating.
On its barest bones, the plot goes a little like this, six years after the events of X, porn actress Maxine Minx vies for fame in Los Angeles. She’s hungry for ‘real’ acting roles, running herself ragged until a dream gig presents itself, the lead in Elizabeth Bender’s (Elizabeth Debicki) horror flick The Puritan II. Jeopardising her flourishing stardom, however, are the Night Stalker killings, which overlap with a more personal threat hell-bent on retribution. Final product aside, this is some of West’s best plotting to date. It’s a shame he doesn’t quite nail down what he wants to achieve here.
MaXXXine‘s prevailing themes – humanity’s desire for fame, how media influences and changes human interaction – feel diluted; there’s too much happening for any of it to make a lasting impression. Making real-life Night Stalker murders the backdrop for an ’80s-set horror flick could’ve gone far conceptually. In fact, for certain writers, that story might’ve told itself. But West isn’t interested in taking that avenue. The utility of the Night Stalker’s narrative starts and stops at its placement as a distraction. The 14-month killing spree doesn’t ever seize the spotlight, but it garners enough attention to interfere with MaXXXine‘s better elements. Taking inventory of everything West packs into the script, you’ve got two serial killer subplots, a family drama, and overspill from the bloodbath on Pearl’s farm. It’s a little too much to wrangle in 104 minutes.
Here’s the thing, though: The Night Stalker is misdirection. The true villain here is one moustache twirl (and moustache) away from feeding Maxine to the foot-board of a train. This cartoonish ostentation works, too, especially as a mirror of Maxine’s thirst for fame. But while vanity, faith, rage, and liberally applied makeup may have ironed this killer into a creaseless vessel for deadly hypocrisy, his presence doesn’t hold a candle to Bacon’s goofy – yet somehow still sinister – PI, John Labat. From the get-go, the character is unquestionably, unabashedly a slimeball. His matted hair, salt-and-pepper grin, and casual creepiness render him simultaneously repulsive and mesmerising, and Bacon seems to have a ball playing up the guy’s seediness.
Then we have Goth, who again flits between relentless longing and ferocious entitlement with disarming ease. She’s quiet, driven, and the X trilogy is the perfect showcase for her. While Maxine Minx isn’t the showstopper Pearl is, both roles benefit from Goth’s uncanny ability to elicit pity, fear, and revulsion almost simultaneously. This has been and will always be the Mia Goth show, and we won’t soon forget it!
MAXXXINE is in cinemas from July 5th
