MaXXXine (2024)

 Spoilers for the whole trilogy, though mostly mild.

'MaXXXine' concludes Ti West and Mia Goths 'X' trilogy. While the earler films 'X' and 'Pearl' were low budget affairs featuring small groups of characters mostly around the same farm, 'Maxxine' is much more expansive. Here West has more of a budget, a larger cast including established stars such as Kevin Bacon and Lily Collins, and more locations, including the Universal backlot as the Universal backlot.

Six years after the events of 'X', Maxine (Goth) is an established porn personality living in Los Angeles. As she nears 33 Maxine has her sights set on more legitimate film work, having landed an audition for the lead in a big budget horror sequel titled 'The Puritan II'. But Maxine's past seems to be following her as an increasing number of her friends wind up brutality murderd. The police in the form of detectives played by Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale are uncertain if these deaths are the work of the then active serial killer the 'Nightstalker', or if they are the work of some copycat.

I think the intimacy and small scale of the first two films were a major part of their appeal, here there is just too much. Too many  characters, too many ideas too little explored. This movie would have been well served cutting it's characters, plots and ideas down by about a third, allowing what's left more time to breath. I would have enjoyed more time with Giancarlo Esposito's character for example, or flesh out some of the victims more so they matter more to us.

West seems intoxicated with the things he had the freedom and budget to do here, recreating 1985 LA to near 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' levels. Playing a drinking game with the various film references he drops throughout could make one very drunk. The film does have the difficulty of establishing a new killer, after the mass murderer of the first two films has been killed off. What they come up with did have it's groundwork layed, if obliquly in 'X'. However I found the end of this film to be it's weakest part. So a disappointment, but I'm still glad a risk was taken with this project. **1/2