REVIEW: ‘MaXXXine’ Trades Provocation For Sanitized Evocation

Midway through Ti West’s cheekily titled MaXXXine, the sequel to 2022’s X and Pearl, a director labels her horror film a “B-movie with A-ideas.” In speaking through her, West aims to apply the same statement to his film but lacks the stylistic conviction to follow through. Each film in West’s slasher trilogy riffs on cinematic tropes and styles, with X aping The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pearl recalling Old Hollywood with lush technicolour.

Yet, with MaXXXine’s eighties Giallo, the gimmick finds itself at its most superfluous and superficial. The result is a film with no “A-ideas” of its own. Its flashes of brilliance do little to embolden a surface-level commentary on Hollywood hypocrisy and American Puritanism.

MaXXXine takes place in 1985, years after the “Texas Porn Star Massacre” of X, with the titular lone survivor (Mia Goth) pursuing her dreams of becoming a star in Hollywood. Maxine’s past as an adult film actress and current venture as a peep show performer doesn’t make it easy for her. Yet, it’s only after she’s hired by rising director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) that her true problems arise.  A traumatic past continues to haunt Maxine as a scummy private dick (Kevin Bacon) and a mysterious leather-gloved killer in the vein of Dario Argento or Brian De Palma hunts her. She realizes she must confront her assailants and her frightening past to ensure her Hollywood dreams become reality.

West’s film is deliberately backdropped against an era of increasing self-censorship, where the industry avoided nudity or controversial iconography to appease broad audiences. By positioning itself as another entry into the Video Nasty and Giallo canon of the period, West attempts to call Hollywood’s hypocritical self-censorship into question by taking aim at the moralistic rot beneath its shiny veneer. Yet, MaXXXine itself feels far too glossy and overproduced to deliver the thrills and shocks of its immediate influences. At each turn, it feels like West falls prey to the same form of self-censorship he’s critiquing, repeatedly pulling the film’s more provocative and debauched punches.

Armed with an abundance of VHS filters and glitzy lens flares, West’s creative choices feel out of place in a genre that thrives off sleaze and scum. It’s as if MaXXXine is prepared to play the part of a Giallo but never live it, often feeling more like dress-up than anything interested in truly poking and prodding at its audiences. Despite a few bouts of creative gore—one involving a junkyard press—West’s horror vision is far too sanitized to leave a lasting impression.

Moreover, MaXXXine’s overarching commentary on Hollywood is drawn with strokes far too large. It tackles Hollywood’s uneasy relationship with the female body overtly, with declarative speeches and statements, rather than using the conventions of its genre to subvert them. Add in a conclusion so obvious and unstartling that any conversation it hoped to start is nipped in the bud.

In an alternate reality, there exists a MaXXXine that hopefully turns the lens on itself, taking its own genre’s problematic history to task and interrogating the same themes. Its direct Giallo influences, like De Palma’s Dressed to Kill, involve elements of trans, queer, and female identity that not only feel dated but still disturb today. Yet, despite those accusations, there remains a racy criticism of America’s lethal puritanical instincts that simply isn’t present in MaXXXine. In consistently trading provocation for surface-level evocation, West struggles to evolve the horror genre from the inside out.

Though MaXXXine falters, the stellar ensemble remains steadfast and confident. Goth delivers another virtuosic performance, holding together the film’s more lackluster moments with bombast and nuance. We remain glued to the screen when she asserts, “I will not accept a life I do not deserve,” lending each moment a propulsive, scintillating edge. Bacon’s delectable turn as a low-down private investigator adds much-needed energy to the film. His deliciously dingy southern drawl is as much a treat to behold as he is off-putting.

In their limited screen time, Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan build witty chemistry as a cop duo searching for the Night Stalker, while Debicki adds some flair when directing her schlocky horror sequel “Puritan II.” Singer-songwriter Moses Sumney is the odd one out, delivering a forgettable turn as a video store owner who is also Maxine’s best friend.

MaXXXine caps off West’s slasher trilogy with a definitive whimper. Though it looks the part, it never embraces the salacious, provocative edge of its Giallo and Video Nasty influences. West often forgets it’s the rough, unfurled edges that make horror impactful and memorable. As it stands, MaXXXine is too busy relishing horror history to be a perverse and authentic part of it.

MaXXXine releases in theatres on July 5, 2024.