“Preach it like you mean it, or it won’t come true.” That line said by Maxine Mink’s (Mia Goth) father to her at an early age has powered her career from the get-go. It’s a motto she took with her into the adult film industry where the actress reached a famous (or infamous, depending on one’s view) level of recognition. It’s one she continues to live by as she makes the near-impossible pivot into Hollywood in the year 1985.

Showcasing her sheer natural talent at an audition in front of open-minded director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debecki) looking for a new star for her upcoming horror sequel “Puritan II,” Maxine lands the part and is officially on the fast track to mainstream stardom. Yet her past threatens to ruin her ascent, as she begins receiving not-so-vague threats by an individual who knows what she did back in the late 70’s at that Texas farmhouse to ensure her survival. On top of that, there’s a vicious serial killer only known as “The Night Stalker” who seems connected to the growing Satanic cult pockets of the time and awfully interested in anyone connected to adult films. Maxine’s stardom will be cut short if she can’t solve who’s after her.

When thinking about original movies that have turned into unlikely franchises of three or more installments over the last decade, X is on the list. It has only taken six years to put out three...let’s calle them simply Maxine/Pearl movies, and in that short amount of time, the character duo have become horror icons for a new generation, the common link being both characters played by Goth. With Goth returning to the fold as Maxine this go-around. MaXXXine is a very lively and very predictable at times capper to an unlikely horror trilogy.

It wouldn’t be a Maxine/Pearl movie without writer and director Ti West. He trades in the static, beta stages of Hollywood moviemaking of the 1910s and the dirty grindhouse elements of the 1970s for the sleek and opulent synth-heavy backed visuals of the 1980s, putting it in a meta-setup of sorts with large stretches taking place on a production set. The color red dominates the palate, driving home a story filled with undercurrents of sex, power, and desire. With the flourishes of split-screen additions and slightly rapid editing in areas, it even feels like it was made by someone indulging in a little 80’s era nose candy as he was putting the movie together. West leans willingly into many of the 80’s staples to fully envelop his latest feature into the Reagan era.

Each of West’s three films in this trilogy have their own distinct feel, with X serving as a more traditional slasher, Pearl being a surprisingly meaty character study, and now MaXXXine, not without horror stylings, falling most cleanly under the mystery/thriller designation. Even though each of the films can exist outside of each other, they’re all connected through the aforementioned lead characters and possess a consistent theme of chasing stardom to near-manic levels. But the biggest script issue for MaXXXine comes down to West telegraphing quite early who’s going to be involved in his climax. The most obvious choice can often be the wisest one, and it completely makes sense based upon the bread crumbs West laid out in X, but the element of surprise is nonexistent using simple math and observation. And as a result, Maxine specifically seems to operate based on what the script demands, removing some agency from its star.

Even with those shortcomings, MaXXXine is so electric because of yet another stellar performance from Goth. Sometimes these movies fail because of the inability in the writing or the star to make a viewer feel like the character being followed on their climb up the latter is truly one of the best at their craft (if not the best). In the hands of Goth, its easy to feel like Maxine has all the talent in the world to be an A-list actress, and that unquantifiable “It” factor. She has a cadre of folks to play off of, like the usually villainous Giancarlo Esposito playing against type here to the equally oft-villainous Kevin Bacon, employing a heavy Bayou draw and clearly having a great time, to the West approximation in Elizabeth Debicki, a directing “auteur” who wants to bring thoughtful ideas to a B movie.

Of the three in the series, MaXXXine isn’t the best or most complete film, but it is the most fun. Maxine is a certifiable movie star, and so too should the person portraying her be.

B-

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