FRIGHT FEST: MAXXXINE

“I will not accept a life I do not deserve.”

In MaXXXine, Maxine has moved to Hollywood and become a big name in the adult film industry, but she’s ready for the next step: movie star. When she’s cast in a horror movie sequel, she finds reality mimicking fiction as a serial killer begins to hunt her, killing off anyone she is close to along the way. While dealing with her possible impending doom, Maxine also grapples with her guilt over the death of her friends back in X and the trauma that continues to linger after the events of that film.

MaXXXine is a sexy, stylish, and very cool slasher that leans heavily into its character study elements (it also often feels like a Brian De Palma film… maybe like Body Double). Every character is immensely entertaining and well-performed from Giancarlo Esposito’s Hollywood agent, to Elizabeth Debicki’s director, to Kevin Bacon’s corrupt/dirty PI (what a dick), to Bobby Canavale and Michelle Monaghan’s detectives, to Moses Sumney’s video store clerk. Of course, Mia Goth outshines them all as Maxine Minx (the one who gets closest to her level is Kevin Bacon). It’s nice to delve into her psyche and get a better sense of who she is as a person. 

MaXXXine makes the most out of its Hollywood setting. The streets of LA feel dirty and grimy, and the backlots feel shiny and clean. There’s even a chase that takes us through the Courthouse/Courtyard from BTTF to the interior of the Psycho House from Psycho. The Bates Motel and Psycho House are featured prominently in two scenes, and it is so cool to see these horror icons back on the big screen. The score and soundtrack are great too (MaXXXine opens with ‘Give Me All Your Lovin’ and ends with ‘Bette Davis Eyes’).

MaXXXine attempts to mix together elements of Pearl and X. This film has a message about the Satanic Panic of the 80s, and is also partially a character study about Maxine. It features quite a few references, winks, and nods to those films as well. Unfortunately, the message found here is undone by the silly final 20-25 minutes or so (It makes it hard to take the message seriously). The who-dun-it elements are fairly fun, even though the person behind the killer’s giallo-inspired costume is fairly obvious. There is some blood and gore, but not as much as you might hope. There’s also very little nudity.

MaXXXine is the weakest of the X trilogy, but it is by no means a weak film. It’s actually fairly great, and a lot of fun. It’s easily the coolest horror film of 2024 thus far.

4 STARS