Written and directed by Tia West, MaXXXine stands as the third instalment to the explosive franchise, ‘X‘. Set in the mid-eighties, the movie enters an era where the notorious rapist and serial killer, The Night Stalker (real name, Richard Remirez) stalked the streets of California, burglarizing homes and taking the lives of thirteen men, women and children.
MaXXXine – Mixing Fact and Fiction
For the purposes of the movie, however, here Mr N Stalker has a penchant for slaughtering “women of the night” and, more pertinently, knows of Maxine’s (Mia Goth) dark, bloody and violent past. All this comes at a bad time for our bloodthirsty heroine, as she is about to make her big break in the world of horror cinema and leave her sordid past as a famous porn star.
MaXXXine plays out in a very different way than what we have come to love and expect from the X franchise. Rather than focusing on trying to get as much blood into the movie as possible, the writers have instead opted for a more mysterious approach, as opposed to a bare-bones horror slasher. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of gory scenes to keep those with blood fetishes happy but it’s far tamer than its two predecessors and not necessarily in a bad way.
While the movie contains little in the ways of traditional horror, it makes up for its lack of scares with a few stomach churning scenes and an interesting premise. It was refreshing to see a different approach for the last (probably) movie and only served to make the finale stand out from both Pearl and X. Utilizing the crimes of a notorious killer for a movie may not sit well with some, but I found it to be a clever touch.
A Special Mention to the Cast
I simply can’t talk about MaXXXine without giving a special mention to the cast, who made it the absolute delight it is. There’s something about Mia Goth that’s perfectly suited to what has become her niche. Exuding a special brand of “badassedness”, she takes any role she is given and turns it into a genuine masterpiece. I’ve been following Goth movies for a while now and I am still to find one that I didn’t enjoy.
Then, of course, we have Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Espositos who shines in a similar way. His deadpan, cool, calm, collected and downright psychotic demeanor – that he plays so well – has seen him through Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and, more recently, Abigail. While usually somewhat typecast, MaXXXine throws him into a very different role of Teddy Night, esq., a fearless lawyer who will stop at nothing to protect his treasured agents. Yes, Big Ted is still more than a little unhinged but he shows us Esposito in a “larger than life” role.
Summary – MaXXXine in a Nutshell
I have been waiting in an almost giddy anticipation for MaXXXine since it was announced through the medium of a trailer following the premiere of Pearl in September of 2022. While I was excited about it’s release on July 5, I still had my reservations. I had heard that the franchise was going to take a turn and I though the worst. Thankfully, the approach taken by West merged an almost arthouse style to the already familiar horror elements and to great ends.
If you haven’t already seen all of the movies from the X franchise, I highly recommend first watching these before settling down to the last of the trilogy. While it’s not essential to understand what’s happening, it will offer some background.