by Josh Sewell
Ti West has spent his entire career experimenting with the horror genre and paying homage to both the great and awful films of the past that have inspired him. But never has that been more apparent than with X and Pearl, which he shot back-to-back with his muse and collaborator Mia Goth. Both hit theaters in 2022 to critical acclaim and respectable box office results.
X, in which a group of ill-fated friends head to a creepy farmhouse to make a dirty movie, was clearly influenced by 1970s exploitation horror flicks like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Its prequel Pearl, the titular antagonist’s origin story, was set 60 years earlier, so it served as West’s demented take on The Wizard of Oz and Douglas Sirk melodramas.
With MaXXXine, which hits theaters this weekend and serves as the closing chapter of the trilogy (for now – I’ll be shocked if we don’t get more of these), West tries his hand at all those cheap, terrible Brian De Palma rip-offs we got in the ’80s. Although it’s probably the least “good” installment, to me it’s the most fun.
The story takes place in Hollywood, where adult film star Maxine Minx (Goth) – sole survivor of the massacre depicted in X – finally gets her big break in a legit horror flick. However, a mysterious figure begins to target her friends in a bloody murder spree that threatens to reveal the brutal secrets of her past.
I had a blast watching MaXXXine, despite the dip in quality from the previous entries. Admittedly, that’s because the movies West is paying tribute to here are the ones I watched as a child of the ’80s (a decade or so before I probably should have).
He does a fantastic job at aping the blurry VHS look this flick would’ve had when it takes place. (A few minutes after the screening started, one of my colleagues leaned over and asked if I thought it was out of focus.) It also has a killer soundtrack, packed with some of the era’s best songs. Although some needle drops are a bit on the nose, it feels appropriate in a schlocky story like this one.
However, the main reason MaXXXine works as well as it does is the incredible cast, all of whom know exactly what kind of movie they’re in. Everyone plays their scenes totally straight, no matter how ridiculous, because they get that winking at the camera would shatter the illusion. Performers like Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan can wallow in the sleaze and still come off as somewhat likeable precisely because they play their characters as real people instead of parodies.
However, there’s no question the series’ MVP is Goth. The British actress continues to impress as the unshakable foundation of this trilogy. As Maxine, she has gone from a seemingly clichéd, one-note role to a woman who won’t let the trauma of her past get in the way of achieving her dreams. The character takes on even more depth once you consider Goth took on a dual role as elderly psycho Pearl in X – buried under layers of realistic old-age prosthetics – and continued to play her in the antagonist’s origin story.
When you realize that (before this film) she technically portrayed Pearl longer than Maxine, it’s fascinating to consider how much of the former character’s tragic backstory and failed aspirations manifest themselves in the heroine of this film.
A big part of what makes MaXXXine so compelling is that her tormentor could have followed a similar path if only she’d been luckier. As such, Goth’s performance as one character influences her portrayal of the other. It’s a compelling dynamic, one that’s easy to overlook amid all the grit, grime, sex and violence these movies depict.
While MaXXXine isn’t going to make Inside Out 2 or A Quiet Place: Day One money at the box office this weekend, I hope it does well enough to allow this series to continue. West’s partnership with Goth has produced fascinating results and I’d love to see how they develop Maxine even more. I could totally see them bringing her into the ’90s, perhaps starring in one of the countless bootleg Tarantino flicks that invaded video stores after Pulp Fiction changed the face of cinema.
MaXXXine is rated R for strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use. Opens in theaters on July 5.
Grade: B+
X, in which a group of ill-fated friends head to a creepy farmhouse to make a dirty movie, was clearly influenced by 1970s exploitation horror flicks like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Its prequel Pearl, the titular antagonist’s origin story, was set 60 years earlier, so it served as West’s demented take on The Wizard of Oz and Douglas Sirk melodramas.
With MaXXXine, which hits theaters this weekend and serves as the closing chapter of the trilogy (for now – I’ll be shocked if we don’t get more of these), West tries his hand at all those cheap, terrible Brian De Palma rip-offs we got in the ’80s. Although it’s probably the least “good” installment, to me it’s the most fun.
The story takes place in Hollywood, where adult film star Maxine Minx (Goth) – sole survivor of the massacre depicted in X – finally gets her big break in a legit horror flick. However, a mysterious figure begins to target her friends in a bloody murder spree that threatens to reveal the brutal secrets of her past.
I had a blast watching MaXXXine, despite the dip in quality from the previous entries. Admittedly, that’s because the movies West is paying tribute to here are the ones I watched as a child of the ’80s (a decade or so before I probably should have).
He does a fantastic job at aping the blurry VHS look this flick would’ve had when it takes place. (A few minutes after the screening started, one of my colleagues leaned over and asked if I thought it was out of focus.) It also has a killer soundtrack, packed with some of the era’s best songs. Although some needle drops are a bit on the nose, it feels appropriate in a schlocky story like this one.
However, the main reason MaXXXine works as well as it does is the incredible cast, all of whom know exactly what kind of movie they’re in. Everyone plays their scenes totally straight, no matter how ridiculous, because they get that winking at the camera would shatter the illusion. Performers like Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan can wallow in the sleaze and still come off as somewhat likeable precisely because they play their characters as real people instead of parodies.
However, there’s no question the series’ MVP is Goth. The British actress continues to impress as the unshakable foundation of this trilogy. As Maxine, she has gone from a seemingly clichéd, one-note role to a woman who won’t let the trauma of her past get in the way of achieving her dreams. The character takes on even more depth once you consider Goth took on a dual role as elderly psycho Pearl in X – buried under layers of realistic old-age prosthetics – and continued to play her in the antagonist’s origin story.
When you realize that (before this film) she technically portrayed Pearl longer than Maxine, it’s fascinating to consider how much of the former character’s tragic backstory and failed aspirations manifest themselves in the heroine of this film.
A big part of what makes MaXXXine so compelling is that her tormentor could have followed a similar path if only she’d been luckier. As such, Goth’s performance as one character influences her portrayal of the other. It’s a compelling dynamic, one that’s easy to overlook amid all the grit, grime, sex and violence these movies depict.
While MaXXXine isn’t going to make Inside Out 2 or A Quiet Place: Day One money at the box office this weekend, I hope it does well enough to allow this series to continue. West’s partnership with Goth has produced fascinating results and I’d love to see how they develop Maxine even more. I could totally see them bringing her into the ’90s, perhaps starring in one of the countless bootleg Tarantino flicks that invaded video stores after Pulp Fiction changed the face of cinema.
MaXXXine is rated R for strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use. Opens in theaters on July 5.
Grade: B+
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment