★★★
From the moment she struts into her first frame in MaXXine, body-hugging in silhouette and denim, Mia Goth is everything. In a film about exploitation and the thirst for fame, only she has the fangs to drink it in. There’s just something about her screen ownership of Ti West that screams star, even without the Bette Davis eyes and Betty Boop lips. Without a doubt, the film itself, which is probably the weakest of the three X films, does not serve the courage of Goth. Certainly, it is an uneven effort, which rises well but falls back hard. And yet, as long as there’s bite in those fangs, there’s a compelling rhythm to be found.
A few years have passed since the events of X, in which Maxine Minx (Gogh) defeated her own shriveled doppelganger by brutally crushing her head. The 70s are a distant memory, the 80s could hardly be louder in making their presence known. It’s in the hair, the makeup, the fine grain of Eliot Rockett’s cinematography. Already renowned for her pornographic notoriety, Maxine aspires to more mainstream appeal. The men on set know who she is but, boy, would it be really nice if their wives did too. Not that she’s ashamed of her origins, brazenly dropping her zipper at the end of a jaw-dropping audition, reminiscent of Emma Stone’s similar undercut. The The Earth showcase. Brooke Shields, she notes, scratched “and now she’s in a fucking Muppets movie.”
Maxine’s big break comes with a role in a gore-fest horror sequel from Elizabeth Debicki’s imperious director Elizabeth Bender, a trailblazer with exacting standards. “The Puritan II” boasts of being “a B movie with A ideas,” but actually serves as a backdoor homage to the era — literally, the Bates Motel was renovated for 1983. Psycho II is around the corner. There’s a lot of that, even if it’s not always tied to narrative logic or contextual meaning. It’s a lot of fun, but West hits harder with less blatant gender nods, like the scene in which Maxine is lathered in latex for the creation of a facial cast. The effect is extremely claustrophobic but drips as much metatextuality as rubber as Goth’s elder double appears.
The most tangible threat here is the whim of the real local serial killer and sex offender, the Night Stalker, or, rather, an impersonator stalked by LAPD detectives Williams (Michelle Monaghan) and Torres (Bobby Cannavale). Even the devil incarnate is an artist here. It’s contagious. While Det. Torres thinks he’s Axel Foley – Cannavale is having the time of his life – Kevin Bacon’s shady investigator can’t resist a game of cowboys when the set screams high noon. Nobody plays the game like Maxine, of course, with Goth at her best in moments demanding dominance. This contrasts with two of his more subservient relationships within the film. They are never really enthusiastic.
As with X and Pearl, there is a lot of talk about period specificity in MaXXXineAesthetics and tone, where X channeled the sexual exploitation of 70s grindhouse, and pearl the technicolor visual brilliance of Oz, MaXXXine lands in sinister and neon. Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Kim Cairns are obvious additions to the soundtrack and there is no faulting the attention to detail behind the film’s hair, makeup and costume successes. Even the very inclusion of bacon can’t help but seem like an Easter egg, of which there are many. Some of them seem a bit disingenuous and superficial – perhaps reminiscent of Tarantino’s. Once upon a time in Hollywood – but it’s a great time for those who remember the days of video rental.
MaXXXine peaks somewhere in the middle, a slow start that takes a while to find its compulsive mojo. Goth electrifies. And yet, the deflation is also rapid in its descent, a poorly cooked finale which does not deserve the abilities of Goth and the strength of being of his character. Big steps have been taken to rewrite the “final girl” template of ’80s horror, backtracking as Maxine falls submissive to the flow of her enemy. Where she’ll go next is anyone’s guess, but you can be sure that Goth’s own trajectory will be the most interesting.
T.S.