This is the third film in Ti West’s horror series, following X and Pearl. This one is set in Hollywood in 1985 and is a direct sequel to X. Adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) has survived the Texas massacre and finally gets her big break in a horror movie, The Puritan 2. But, at the same time, serial killer The Night Stalker is murdering Los Angeles starlets, and a scuzzy private investigator called John Labat is following Maxine.
With its setting of a seedy 1980s Los Angeles, a hunt for a serial killer and scenes set on the Paramount lot, MaXXXine felt made for me. There are also references to a number of films I love. Very obviously Psycho with the appearance of the iconic motel and house and Chinatown with Labat increasingly looking like Jake Gittes. Maxine’s father’s actions are reminiscent of the father in Hardcore. But it was two great films from 1984 that really came to mind, Body Double and especially Crimes of Passion with a religious figure in Maxine acting similarly to Reverend Peter Shayne in Ken Russell’s deliciously twisted thriller.
Maxxxine pretty much delivered on that promise, and I think it is the best of the trilogy. Goth is terrific, gaining our sympathy even though we know her bloody back story and there is an excellent supporting cast that includes Kevin Bacon as Labat, The Puritan director played by Elizabeth Debicki, a pair of detectives, Torres and Williams played by Bobby Connavale and Michelle Monaghan, and doomed actress Lily Collins.
My main criticism is that West tries to force too much into a 103 minute running time. The Night Stalker plot is pretty much a red herring but I could have watched an entire film about Torres and Williams’ investigations and another about the making of The Puritan 2.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10