Last Wednesday, I braved a storm to get the movie theater. I barely made it to the parking lot in time; however, there was no parking to a holiday event occurring and half the parking lot was blocked off. The second time, I got sick. The third time, I received some personal news that I had to deal with. After four attempts, I finally saw MaXXXine – one of my most anticipated movies of the year.

When X came out, I was in a weird place with horror. With COVID, I couldn’t bare seeing other people being scared for my own amusement. It felt counterproductive. However, what Ti West did with X reinvigorated my love for the genre. I wouldn’t say I am a big horror fan, but I have grown to appreciate it. When Pearl came out later that year, I found it to be even better than X. Aside from all of the scares and blood & guts, the two films had very important themes to say about society. Themes so integral to what we needed, even though we didn’t know we needed it. With MaXXXine taking a bit longer than usual to come out, I was hoping for the best that it would least be at the same quality as the first two. Is it? I don’t personally think so, but that’s not to say that this is all that bad, yet it is quite disappointing.

I did my best to not let hear what the reviews were saying deter my excitement for the film. The marketing on this was already a bit strange to me as I couldn’t quite tell what the plot was, and that’s perhaps the best way to explain this movie. When we open to Maxine years later after the Texas massacre, she seems to be thriving and transiting from the adult industry into the film industry. What we could have gotten from this movie is a tale of Maxine trying to transition into the film industry right after the massacre. We could see more of her PTSD, and even see her struggles with getting into the film industry because of her reputation. Instead, what we get are just little hints of what could be hard-hitting themes and more of people getting slaughtered, as well as people stalking Maxine. That’s really about it, yet I wouldn’t go as far as saying that that’s a bad thing.

The LA landscape that Maxine is in thrives with color and some unique camera work. The score makes you reminisce on the classic 80’s movies. There’s no denying how vibrant the screen is. One of the biggest problems that the film faces is how everything is in the day time. There is hardly ever any tension, because there’s nothing ever working up to it. It’s more of a murder mystery, but there’s not enough intrigue to care. If I never saw the previous two entries, I probably wouldn’t have cared what happens to Maxine. Since I have seen the first two, it makes me care more of what happens to Maxine.

There is no denying that West continues to be inspired by generational horror. Every single entry in this trilogy is wholly unique and I applaud him for that. He creates his own signature stamp to something that has already been done before to some capacity. One of my concerns going in was the cast. I love the supporting cast, but I was also worried how nearly every single new cast member would be utilized properly with the film’s runtime. Needless to say, my concerns were correct. If you look at the film from the perspective of what happens to Maxine, then you’ll enjoy it. If you want to learn more about this world and see how these people impact Maxine, then you will be left disappointed. While I love the supporting cast, there was no depth whatsoever. Their only purpose was to either get killed or to somehow help Maxine when she was in a pickle. Either way, it was only to service the plot, which didn’t give anyone the right opportunity other than probably Kevin Bacon.

Compared to the first two movies, the stakes don’t seem as high. People close to Maxine are getting killed off left and right. When the big reveal occurs, it creates more confusion more than anything else. I was warned how the third act throws the movie off. It sort of does, yet I think this is where West’s direction shines the best. It is very campy, but West has a keen eye between his direction and editing that I think gave the film the energy it needed.

I am not too sure why it feels like West was overthinking too much with this one. Maybe it was because there was too much time between this one and the last? Personally, I would have loved to have seen a movie where the killer is hunting down everyone on a shoot that Maxine is on. Whether that be with an adult film or an actual film, it doesn’t matter either way. Doing it this manner would truly show what Maxine has had to endure to get to her success. That would have also gave the film more creativity to lean into the horror genre.

Overall, MaXXXine manages to make something that’s somewhat satisfying for fans, yet the energy and passion feels lost. The side characters are barely human and serve little purpose to the overall story. While there are some hints of West’s genius, this entry definitely lacks the bite the first two had. If you come for Mia Goth, then I don’t think you will be that disappointed; although, I’d say to tempter expectations going in.

VERDICT: Pretty Good