MaXXXine (2024) Dir: Ti West

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After a long wait, I was finally able to watch the third and final film in Ti West's popular 'X' Trilogy - a series of non-chronological horror stories that have already gained a cult-like status with horror fans, thanks to their throwback stories, creepy horror, and, most importantly, their memorable scream queen star; Mia Goth. I had enjoyed both of the previous two films in this trilogy, particularly 'Pearl', and was keen to finally see the culmination of the 'Pearl' and 'Maxine' saga.

As I suspected I might, considering the time that the film was set, I enjoyed the film's soundtrack a lot. It punctuated the film very nicely, and was very much inkeeping with its 80's Hollywood setting and aesthetics. Speaking of which, the film was visually quite interesting, with the classic 80's style camera quality, and the characters typically of-the-time costume designs. I do think the second film in particular had generally more memorable looks for Mia Goth, but I definitely didn't dislike her outfits in this film.

Unfortunately, the story went a little off the rails. It seemed to get way too caught up in the 80's aesthetic and serial killer craze that it had decided to place itself within. I think, rather ironically, and much like many who go to Hollywood hoping to find fame and stardom, this film seemed to get lost amongst the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood's bright lights. I really enjoyed some aspects of it - seeing 'Maxine' trying to make her way in the film industry, for example - but the weird murder mystery element, and they reveal that came from it, just didn't work for me.

I also felt like this was the least memorable performance of the trilogy from Mia Goth, albeit this wasn't totally because of her acting. In fairness, the screenplay didn't exactly provide much in the way of those striking scenes that helped the prior two films become such successful modern cult hits, but even so, I just felt like Goth didn't display the charisma that had made her previous performances so memorable.

Of the supporting cast members, it was the pair of Elizabeth Debicki and Moses Sumney who stood out the most to me, albeit Sumney was criminally wasted, in my opinion. He was easily the most interesting person on-screen, but he had very little significant screentime. I liked the bulk of Debicki's work in this role, but as the film progressed, the script exposed her character as being a little one-dimensional and dull. I was hoping for more from her character, which isn't entirely Debicki's fault, but I'd have liked to have seen more from her too.

Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale play too slightly odd, and ultimately very forgettable, supporting characters, who I really didn't care about at all, whilst the pair of Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon did leave a far more noticeable impression, but featured a lot less than I figured they might. I do also want to give mentions to the likes of Halsey, Lily Collins, and Sophie Thatcher, who, despite very little screentime, were very enjoyable in their respective supporting roles.

Overall, this was, unfortunately, the weakest film in the 'X' trilogy. With that said, I still enjoyed it a fair amount, and was certainly taken by the aesthetics of the film. It suffered from its tendancy to rely on real life events to create its suspense and horror, instead of forging its own, wholly unique story. If anything, it took away from the film's main antagonist, as well as the reveal of their identity. I digress, people who liked the first two will still enjoy this one as well, just perhaps not quite as much.