“MaXXXine”: The Disappointing Finale of the “X” Trilogy

The alleged last installment of Ti West’s captivating trilogy was not up to the level of its predecessors.

Summary

In the 1980s, Maxine Minx is about to have her big break in Hollywood, becoming the star she always dreamed to be. However, a mysterious person who seems to know a bit too much about her begins to stalk her, threatening her life and the lives of those around her.

But Maxine won’t let anyone get in the way of her success. She will not accept a life she does not deserve.

Murder Mysteries in the 80s

MaXXXine was one of the films I was most excited to see this year, for many reasons. Ti West does something different each time, which I quite enjoy. X was a classic slasher in the style of The Chainsaw Massacre. Pearl (my favorite), while still giving plenty of gory and disturbing scenes, was more of a drama. MaXXXine tries to go for a dark thriller, and at least on the surface, it achieves its goal.

The aesthetic of the 80s gives the film a captivating look, which could be appreciated since the trailers. In the visual aspect, I have no complaints. However, this time I perceived it as more style than substance.

The film has a promising start: Maxine Minx, now a recognized name in adult entertainment, is trying to make the jump from porn to a serious Hollywood career. She has to deal with the presence of a dangerous stalker who somehow knows about her past.

Maxine has always been willing to do what it takes to become famous, but the events of the previous film left a mark on her. The past haunts her, and the more scared she gets, the more violent she becomes. Mia Goth, as usual, gives a solid performance.

The Most Predictable Villain

MaXXXine works well during the first forty minutes or so, when the tension is at its highest point. But the identity of the murderer—that big twist we were all waiting for—is not really effective. If you were paying attention, you probably guessed where the film was going halfway through.

Of course, the villain can be none other than Maxine’s father. All the people who were on the farm in the first film are dead. Who else could be interested in following her and ruining her career? The first scene of the film even shows a recording of Maxine as a kid with his father. It was right there in our faces.

I don’t mean that the whole story of that broken relationship could not be interesting, but the decision to introduce the father in such a way just brought down the whole film for me. Up until that point, you imagine the villain as someone exceptionally intelligent and meticulous who knows what he is up to and has everything calculated. But no.

What Was the Point?

Maxine’s dad is a religious maniac who has been making a little independent documentary/snuff film showing his attempts to exorcise the devil out of all the actresses that went missing before murdering them. He thinks Hollywood is satanic, and all those women are just possessed. He also killed Maxine’s closest friend out of the blue. I guess that one was personal. He expects to recover his daughter by doing all of that.

It is not clear to me why he would not just go get Maxine if he knew where she was all the time. Why blackmailing her? Why killing everyone else? And if he was killing all his victims in the same place and there was a group of people involved, how come the police never found out? The actresses that were murdered were going to parties in the same location. That is how I realized Lilly Collins’ character would not be around for long. It wasn’t that difficult to put two and two together.

But all those things aside, the evil religious guy behaves like a caricature. There’s no doubt he is dangerous, but he doesn’t seem to be all that smart. 

So Maxine gets rid of her father and gets the lead role in the film she wants. The end.

Box Office Numbers

MaXXXine had the best opening of the franchise, with $6.705.038 in the domestic box office. In my country, it was released a week ago, but in the rest of the world, you could find it in theaters at the beginning of July. During this period, it made around $20.000.000 worldwide.

Whether those numbers are good or bad, I’m not entirely sure. It has been impossible to find information about the production budget from any reliable source. X was made with $1.000.000, according to The Numbers, and Pearl was rumored to have a similar budget. If that is also the case with this third installment, then the film is already a success.

I would not say that MaXXXine is a bad film, but it is undoubtedly the weakest of the trilogy. The mystery does not work as it should, and that can’t be overlooked in spite of the amazing visuals and the great performances. Perhaps Pearl also set the bar too high for me.

Ti West had, at some point, mentioned the possibility of expanding X beyond those three first films, depending on the reception. So maybe this is not the last we’ve seen of Maxine Minx.