Ti West’s “MaXXXine,” the third movie in the captivating, absurd, and dark franchise following sex worker Maxine Minx as she strives for stardom in 1980s Hollywood, is the bloody cherry on top for what I predict will be a cult classic of this generation.
The film takes place in 1985 Los Angeles, six years following what has been dubbed in the film as the Texas Porn Star Massacre. Mia Goth as Maxine was the lone survivor of Pearl and Howard’s grisly attack, where we lost notable characters Lorraine, played by Jenna Ortega, and Jackson Hole, played by Kid Cuddi, who most definitely did not return for the sequel.
Blanketed in the times, the movie is set amid Richard Ramirez’s terrifying reign over L.A. as the city is ripe with fear over who will be the vicious serial killer’s next victim.
Coupled with the Night Stalker, the movie also occurs during a strange time culturally deemed the Satanic Panic. A time when many religious families in the U.S. thought The Devil was infiltrating the lives of their children through the media they consumed.
At the movie’s start, the audience is first greeted with a home-movie-style clip of Maxine as a young girl, who states a familiar quote from X: “I will not accept anything I do not deserve.”
Young Maxine is standing on stage with a priest at a religious ceremony. She is the preacher’s daughter, and her father is far from proud of her daughter’s status in the porn industry.
To what extent her father will go to free his daughter from Satan’s alleged grasp – you’ll have to watch and see for yourself.
The movie follows the franchise’s prequel, “Pearl,” which came less than a year after the debut of “X”- a much-discussed movie over social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok as fans both admired and dissected the movie’s portrayal of female rage during a time in our world where many women carried more than enough to go around.
In June of 2022, the Supreme Court took away the federal right to abortion with the overturning of Roe v. Wade – a polarizing turning point in our already tumultuous political climate and a seemingly direct attack against women’s rights.
Now, I’m in no way claiming Mia Goth’s Pearl to be a feminist role model – no, we cannot remedy societal-misogyny slasher-film-style with axes – However, it was refreshing to see the rawness of Pearl’s anger and rage expressed when she did not get what she wanted.
While “Pearl” demonstrated female rage, I would argue that “MaXXXine” demonstrates a woman’s relentless desire and aspiration as the character continues to find fame and fortune past the world of adult films.
Within the film’s first hour, Maxine receives her big break—a starring role in a horror sequel, “Puritan II.”
The news of her new starring role comes only hours after her return from the sex club in which she’s employed.
As she leaves her fellow dancer Tabby Martin, played by Halsey, on the streets outside of the club, she warns Maxine of the killer on the loose, to which she replies she can handle herself.
And if you’d call Stiletto stomping an attacker’s testicles in a back Hollywood ally handling herself – well, she did just that.
“MaXXXine” revisits the darkness of Goth’s character as seen in “X,” through a different perspective as she grapples with the trauma of what she experienced in Texas while simultaneously refusing to let it get in the way of her goals in Hollywood.
The seed of Maxine’s darkness was planted in West’s choice to have Goth play both Maxine and Pearl, even through the character’s old age in “X.” I myself did not catch onto this until after I viewed the 2022 film while scrolling through the movie’s IMBD page, (I hope that makeup artist got a raise).
While Pearl seemingly puts aside her dreams of dancing to succumb to her fate of living on her parent’s farm and her deep, violent tendencies, Maxine uses her darkness in her favor as she navigates the new bloody plotline of “MaXXXine.” She can have the cake and eat it too.
I applaud West for instilling balance in Goth’s character through “MaXXXine.” Her independence shines through in two ways—one that works against her as she refuses help and one that demonstrates, through her methods, that she ultimately can get what she wants.
Does it matter how you get to the finish line if your dreams come true in the end?
To me, this is an elbow in society’s rib – as a collective, we love to tear women apart for anything, but she doesn’t achieve her goals. Lazy. She fights tooth and nail for what she wants. Try hard. Bitch. Pick-me girl.
As women, we seemingly can’t win. Although unconventional, violent, and illegal, Maxine’s desire and work ethic ultimately bring her dreams to fruition.
Now, I won’t give away too much of the film’s bloody delicious details; the plot works to dissect the complexity of Maxine’s trauma in a multitude of spaces – her survivor’s guilt from Texas in X, the dissonance she places between her true dreams and her reality as a sex worker, and the newly added layer to the character in “MaXXXine:” her “daddy issues.”
In the end, she finds herself closure and does not accept what she did not deserve. What more can you ask of a girl?
Goth’s title of scream queen remains in place, as I can not think of another starlet of our time pulling off the erratic, dynamic, captivating performance seen throughout the franchise.
While I do not condone the somewhat psychopathic methods demonstrated by Goth’s character in “MaXXXine,” I enjoyed watching her navigate her circumstances and find her own happy ending.
I rate this film four out of five stars.
