After the satisfyingly violent X and the technicolor wonder of PEARL, Ti West ends his trilogy with MAXXINE and sorta sticks “The Landing (Strip).”
Watching MAXXINE, I realized that “I never wanted it to end.” Not the film, but the main character’s journey, played brilliantly by Mia Goth. She’s already impressed in the previous editions, and in the 3rd part, she plays the classic 80s horror protagonist to perfection. About halfway through MAXXINE, I realized the theme is how we deal with trauma. And this makes sense. That’s essentially the case for most horror films. A protagonist has a past traumatic situation, and they try to outrun it, but the only way out is to face it head-on. Or, in the case of MAXXINE, having to “save yourself.”
Elsewhere, the supporting cast does a bang-up job. Audiences get a sleazy Kevin Bacon, Bobby Cannavale in a role only he could play, and Giancarlo Esposito as the best agent in the business. This works smashingly until a third act fails to inspire. At the start of MAXXINE, I had my fingers crossed that this film’s story wouldn’t go where it ends up, and sadly, it does. I cannot divulge more details on the conclusion as it would be massive spoilers, but I was disappointed with the big bad reveal.
And one more nit – if you’ve lived in L.A., you might be upset with how they cheat characters, making it from one side of town to the other. The worst is there’s a direct cut on the Sony lot that somehow automagically continues the same scene at Universal Studios. I notice these things, and so does our other contributor, Eli. For the rest of you, it will be fine. 😉
MAXXINE is playing in theaters now, and I encourage audiences to see what the hype is about. When it came out, PEARL set a standard for horror sequels, and MAXXINE does an uneven job in a satisfying concluding chapter.
