By the time Maxine Minx killed her way out of the Douglas house at the end of 2022’s X she declared “I will not accept a life I do not deserve!” The character in that film showed a willingness to do whatever it took to make her a star in the world of porn. She showed a steely determination to survive even if that meant that she had to commit murder. Now comes MaXXXine, the film that asks if she’s ready to navigate through the monster that is Hollywood.
It’s 1985 and Ronald Reagan just started his second term in office. A new brand of cultural conservatism attacks all kinds of media. This is the era of the Parents Music Resource Center wanting to censor albums that are potentially explicit. Satanic Panic is in full swing with parents worried about the dangers of Dungeons and Dragons and heavy metal. Protests against sex and violence in media play out in an effort to protect the youth.
The career of writer/director Ti West has centered on recreating particular eras of filmmaking. His breakthrough film House of the Devil explored that brand of low budget 70s-80s filmmaking purporting to be based on true stories. With X and Pearl, his exploration of attitudes towards sex filtered into his fascination with film history. He and his collaborator Mia Goth also tackled how aging fit into all that. People may be eternally young on film but the human body continues to decay.
That sort of continues with MaXXXine. Both West and Goth still appear interested exploring that intersection of film history, sexual desire, and aging. However, while there are still questions about human desire and how that gets represented in film, most of this film seems more interested in this particular era of Hollywood filmmaking. This is the only film this year that seemingly references both Italian giallo films and 80s American action filmmaking.
At least West creates a showcase for the acting power house that is Goth. Her performance in MaXXXine is less showy than her turn in Pearl, but no less fascinating. This is a character that Goth wears well. Her ability to age up Maxine from the scrappy survivor in X into a world weary hustler is a gift. She puts on a show of bravado if it gets her a job. Once the camera is off or people stop watching, the weight of fighting for potential gigs in music videos or performing peep shows at night becomes obvious. The trauma of her violent past haunts her.
As she states, there’s a shelf life for her in the porn industry but one also exists for Hollywood too. This is a film about the disposability of women in Hollywood. The killings of Richard Ramirez aka The Night Stalker get mentioned in the background throughout the film while someone kills women close to Maxine. West’s most salient point is that Hollywood is merciless in how it chews and spits out the women who go there to fulfill their dreams.
It’s frustrating, though, that most of the film is subservient to West’s desire to seemingly recreate every style of film being made at that time. West clearly loves the Los Angeles of the time period and the films set there. That place no longer exists except in movies. The people that make up Maxine’s world, from Kevin Bacon’s scuzzball Jake Gittes-styled private investigator to Maxine’s mob connected agent played by Giancarlo Esposito, seem more like movie characters from that time period than real people.
The only other person in the film that comes across as a three dimensional human being is Elizabeth Bender, the director of the horror film Maxine get a part in portrayed with icy perfection by Elizabeth Dibickci. The relationship between her and Maxine is the most complex one. Bender is as predatory as most of the men in the film, always looking for someone she can use to get ahead. Yet Bender recognizes a kindred soul, someone she can shepherd through this nightmare. Their relationship really gives this movie some weight.
Still, one almost has to admire the ambition of making a film that homages the gruesomeness Dario Argento-style giallos, a seedy LA noir, and Beverly Hills Cop. For the most part it’s fun seeing people get killed in neon reds and blues. By the end though when the film turns into an action shoot out reminiscent of both Beverly Hills Cop and the 1987 film Dragnet, it gets tiresome.
West ultimately creates a film that hints at a darker ending that he won’t commit too. Maxine Minx is a monster but he wants her to be a heroine an audience sympathizes with. Someone people should root for rather than a true antiheroine. Everyone knows her name at the end but for reasons that she never quite earns.
For a movie that tries to capture the glitz and sleaze of 1980s Los Angeles, MaXXXine for entertains for the most part. Mia Goth once again delivers an exciting performance even if it’s more subdued. West says that he may have another film about Maxine in him. However, this one shows that even with Goth’s considerable skills, it may be time to leave her on the video shelf.
MaXXXine is currently in theaters from A24.
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