MaXXXine (2024)

West has made a very satisfying horror trilogy and is clearly having a lot of fun paying tribute to different style eras of film making (namely 70s genre films, golden era Hollywood, and 80s crime dramas). Maxxxine is another fascinating if uneven chapter in this saga and a beautifully shot homage to the greed decade with something to say about the brutal pursuit of fame. 

I wasn't sure the narrative was woven very clearly through this story and it sometimes feels like it's stumbling over itself to get from plot point to plot point. It maybe shoves its hypocrisy argument in our faces a little too hard but it's not a bad point and it certainly is an interesting take. I think Pearl remains the strongest of the three films but this one, like X, has at its centre the thing that makes it all work so well, Goth's performance. 

Goth really inhabits the. anti-heroines of this series. She is doing some fascinating things here and continues to build on Maxine first introduced to us in X. It's hard to take your eyes of her. She is complex and difficult and my only real complaint is that I wish the film gave her a better arc that could have shown off even more. But what she does here is wonderful to watch and Goth has cemented an iconic status with this role. 

I hear West is developing even more films in this series and despite some inconsistency here I'm down for Maxine to return. 

MaXXXine

Starring: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Bacon 

Writer/Director: Ti West