MAXXXINE

A horror trilogy that from the outset promised so much dimly peters out in the nearly unwatchable MaXXXine, a poor excuse for a fright flick that never even remotely gets your pulse racing.

I wasn’t too worried when Ti West’s 2022 film X lost momentum in its second half after an engrossing first hour. After all: many horror movies do. I even sat though the stylishly fashioned prequel Pearl, even if you could only spuriously call that a fright flick.

If you did the same and are willing to give the trilogy-capping MaXXXine a go in the hope that things can only trend upwards, I have a piece of advice: do not go down that road, because you’ll lose 90 minutes you could have spent better by doing just about anything.

MaXXXine continues the fame-seeking journey of porn actress Maxine as she lands a role in a horror sequel. Soon people around her end up dead, in ever more gruesome ways, which begs the question: is this the work of infamous mid-eighties serial killer, the Night Stalker, or is there an even more nefarious force at work?

As a premise that sounds pretty good, but Ti West fails miserably in the execution. While he aptly channels a seedy eighties vibe, he doesn’t wring an ounce of tension out of the plot, as the movie plods its way to a conclusion that is barely coherently connected to the previous films in the franchise and falls flat on its face.

West must have realised himself that MaXXXine contains but a modicum of interest because he stuffs the film with famous guest actors, from Elizabeth Debicki to Kevin Bacon. Alas their overacting only highlights the picture’s major flaws, which make you wonder why on earth I invested time at all in a trilogy that collectively ranks among the worst in recent Hollywood history.

release: 2024

director: Ti West

starring: Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito