MaXXXine

Director: Ti West
Starring: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Bacon, Simon Prast, Chloe Farnworth, Sophie Thatcher, Toby Huss
Running Time: 104 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)   

After much anticipation, the third and possibly final installment of Ti West's X trilogy, MaXXXine arrives to deliver exactly what the the trailers and teasers hinted it would. If X paid homage to 70's grindhouse slashers like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pearl drew inspiration from golden era Technicolor classics like The Wizard of Oz, this is pure 80's VHS sleaze with a nod to Giallo horror. And while it's strangely the most conventional of the three in terms of plot, it still diverges enough from those to terrorize.

Even when it's easy to telegraph where the story's headed, from purely an aesthetic standpoint, West's neon-infused interpretation of this down and dirty era is worth the price of admission alone. Of course, the obsessively ambitious title character's goal was always to be a huge star, and after escaping X's bloodbath, nothing could stand in her way. If there's a thematic through line, it's Maxine's desire to attain the life she knows she deserves, instilled in her by a televangelist father at an early age and reinforced with the chilling black-and-white home movie footage that opens this picture.

It's 1985 Los Angeles and six years after Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) survived the slaughter of her friends on that Texas farm, she's searching for stardom under the bright lights of Hollywood. With the Night Stalker murders all over the news, Maxine has been making a splash in low budget adult films while working at a dingy strip club. But her big break comes when she lands the lead role in cold, no-nonsense British auteur Elizabeth Bender's (Elizabeth Debicki) horror sequel, The Puritan II. 

Soon after sharing the good news with her loyal agent Teddy Knight (Giancarlo Esposito), colleagues Amber (Chloe Farnworth) and Tabby (Halsey) and friend Leon (Moses Sumney), Maxine receives a VHS tape of the ill-fated porn filmed at the farm house in 1979, along with a visit from bombastic private investigator John Labat (Kevin Bacon). Hired by a mysterious man responsible for Maxine's friends now turning up dead in Night Stalker inspired slayings, Labat demands she meet with his boss or have her criminal past exposed. But just as LAPD detectives Williams (Michele Monaghan) and Torres ( Bobby Cannavale) close in on these murders, Maxine decides to take matters into her own hands.

West exploits the period setting to maximum effect, using the seedy early 80's L.A. atmosphere to make a bold, visually stylish statement about how Hollywood swallows its young starlets whole. And in doing so this joins a long list of noir mysteries made in a similar vein, such as Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia. But if West's interested in exploring the dark underbelly of Tinseltown as a natural next chapter for fame hungry Maxine, he's also committed to giving us another moody retro slasher that also carries faint echoes of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

Better paced and structured than X but lacking the dramatic flair of Pearl, this lands squarely in the middle, subverting expectations that it would be the most shocking and outrageous of the three. In doing a lot of small, simple things extremely well, the plot itself often taking a deserved backseat to the performances and visuals. The grungy sights and sounds of L.A. function as the story's mirror, and while it's cliché to call the city another character, the depiction would have definitely earned a mention in that great 2004 documentary Los Angles Plays Itself. It may not be the West Coast equal to what countless 70's films did for New York, but what West pulls off is still pretty impressive.

When the opening titles roll and we see Maxine driving her white convertible to this audition as ZZ Top's "Gimme Me All Your Lovin'" blasts over the soundtrack, the countdown to carnage may as well begin. But it's officially underway when she gets an unexpected visit from Bacon's wacky detective. Clearly underestimating her, Labat has no idea what he's gotten into, regardless of the anonymous leather gloved killer giving him his marching orders.

The term "Scream Queen" gets thrown around a lot, but Goth is the only contemporary actress who can legitimately lay claim to that crown, even if it oversimplifies just how much she's raised the bar for this genre. And it's a testament to Goth's grasp on the material that even her subtlest, straightforward performance in the trilogy still feels out of left field amidst these new surroundings. Sporting a Louisiana drawl, Bacon's a comedic highlight, as is Esposito, who shines as the shady talent agent that's more Saul Goodman than Gus Fring. 

Certain moments leave big impressions, like a beatdown featuring John Parr's "St. Elmos Fire (Man in Motion)" and a chase through the Psycho house. Or really anything related to the filming of The Puritan II, especially Maxine's interactions with Debicki's classy, controlling director and the original's star Molly Bennett (Lily Collins), who has some words of wisdom for her replacement. The former casts a strong presence, dishing out a blunt, icy mix of sarcastic cruelty while attempting to keep Maxine on the straight and narrow.

The killer's identity isn't exactly the best kept secret, nor is it necessarily intended to be. But anything the plot lacks in surprise it makes up for when Maxine finally comes face-to-face with this monster, culminating in a finale cleverly set against the most famous of landmarks. Strangely enough, with all its religious underpinnings, the West project this most resembles might be his 2013 found footage film, The Sacrament, based on the 1978 Jonestown Massacre. 

Unlike that, this isn't exactly about a cult, but it does share key elements, including another real life crime case that helped define an era. Given the trilogy's lofty reputation, it would be easy to take MaXXXine for granted, but Goth still carries the load as she did the others. And for fans already willing to follow this character to the ends of the earth, a depraved dive through Hollywood's so called "dream factory" proves too enticing a proposition to pass up.                     

Pearl

Director: Ti West

Starring: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Alistair Sewell
Running Time: 102 min.
Rating: R  

★★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

The best advice to give someone before watching Ti West's Pearl is not to see its prequel, X, first. Or maybe even at all. That won't happen since those most interested in this already did, eager to analyze the connective tissue between the two films. But there's little crossover, as it's sometimes tough to believe it was even made by the same person. Anyone lucky enough to know nothing going in wouldn't categorize it as a horror prequel at all, far transcending its slasher label to paint a psychologically unnerving portrait of a troubled young woman on the brink of emotional collapse. Featuring a brilliantly disturbing performance from Mia Goth as the younger version of the murderous octogenarian character she played in X, this operates on an entirely different level, replacing that film's gore and gruesomeness with suspense and heartbreak. 

If we already knew West had the talent, it's never quite come together for him like this, finding aesthetic inspiration in golden age cinema classics like The Wizard of Oz while still creating a singular, genre blurring vision that stands as an anomaly in the current movie landscape. Recreating the 1918 era in which this takes place with a vibrant technicolor presentation that confirms we're not in Kansas anymore, this film's version of Dorothy desperately aspires to escape her suffocating home life to become a star. And in depicting a surprisingly relevant world not so far removed from our own, West injects the material with a depth and complexity that's brought to life by Goth's staggering turn. The film belongs entirely to her, as Pearl's giddy, wide-eyed exuberance gives way to unbridled madness and bloodshed.

It's 1918 during the influenza pandemic and Pearl (Goth) is living with her German immigrant mother Ruth (Tandi Wright) and paralyzed father (Matthew Sunderland) on their Texas farm while husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) serves overseas in World War I. With Pearl's father wheelchair bound, the controlling, domineering Ruth has her taking care of him and the farm, but she yearns to escape for the bright lights of Hollywood. Depressed but hopeful for the future, she becomes entranced by the films she sees at the local cinema, befriending the theater's young projectionist (David Corenswet), who takes an immediate interest in her. 

Aspiring to become a chorus girl, Pearl hears from sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) of a church audition being held to find new dancers for a traveling troupe. Potentially seeing this as the big break, she pins all her hopes and dreams on winning, even as her behavior becomes disturbingly erratic. Between Howard's absence and insurmountable pressure to conform to her mother's ways, a mentally unhinged Pearl reaches a breaking point, with those closest to her about to discover just how dangerous she can be.

While it seems as if every other release these days centers around the impact of formative moviegoing experiences, West actually uses this familiar trope for a renewed creative purpose. Aside from cinematographer and frequent West collaborator Eliot Rockett invoking the MGM-era technicolor classics in perfecting the film's bright, gaudy look, Pearl's celluloid obsessions undoubtedly play a role in sending her further into her own head, which is a perilous place to be. 

Seeing the verbal abuse her tyrannical mother unleashes at seemingly minor indiscretions engenders a certain degree of sympathy for an outwardly sweet, goofy and often jubilant young woman. Desperately longing to get out from under her mom's iron fist, the desire to get into pictures becomes that escape hatch as Goth gradually peels back the layers to reveal how Pearl's issues cut far deeper. Calling back to one of X's major themes, she hears the clock ticking, as the fear of time passing without realizing her dreams becomes an all consuming obsession. 

If killing animals or doing the unspeakable with a scarecrow weren't already red flags, Pearl's admission that she can't wait until her parents die feels like a turning point and the moment that inside voice takes over, terrifying those who thought they knew her. To varying extents, the projectionist, Mitsy, and even her infirm, unresponsive father begin gradually waking up to this reality, albeit entirely too late.

West patiently builds to her breakdown, with many of the most thrilling, suspenseful scenes having little to do with violence, but the characters' reactions to Pearl's words and her reaction to them. She's hurt and bewildered by their responses in a way that far surpasses any surprise or remorse in herself that she said it. And as an uncontrollable Pearl's behavior becomes more theatrical, these exchanges increase in prevalence and intensity, culminating in her uncomfortably cringe worthy audition, which has a fallout even more tragic than anticipated.

Goth's now infamous eight-minute monologue is built entirely around that very conceit, as Pearl lays bare all her insecurities, crimes, and darkest thoughts for an initially willing listener who gets more than they ever bargained for in volunteering to play armchair therapist. The actress takes us on an unpredictable, emotional ride, investing Pearl with a naivety that only faintly acknowledges the heinousness of her actions. But being honest doesn't necessarily mean she grasps what that truth actually means, and by the time she does, it's too late for the unfortunate soul who sat there and listened to it. If in X it seemed as if Goth channeling Shelley Duvall then that observation holds much truer here in appearance, presence and delivery, reimagining Olive Oyl as an ax wielding sociopath.

The eventual slashings actually mean something due to the empathy Goth elicits for the character, and despite the film's playfully wicked sense of humor, West takes the smiling Pearl seriously, firmly distinguishing this from X's winking, tongue-in-cheek Texas Chainsaw tribute. After watching this it's hard not to wonder if that would play any differently now on a rewatch, even with this succeeding entirely as a standalone. 

By setting it in a period plagued with fear, isolation and financial instability, West also manages to make a pandemic movie without directly making one, cleverly utilizing the 1918 Spanish flu and World War I as anxiety-fueled triggers that only add to an already present sense of impending doom. And it maintains that momentum throughout, punctuated by a memorable closing credits sequence you won't be able to look away from or shake off.

Much has been made about what an incredible year it's been for horror, and while that's true, categorizing Pearl as strictly that almost sells it short, implying its strengths are limited to only a narrow, specific category. But even amidst a crowded pack of elevated horror entries, it earns its place toward the top, with 2019's Midsommar as its only viable competition. A psychological thriller before all else, certain biases will likely prevent the film and Goth from getting some much deserved attention and accolades. But for adventurous audiences who appreciate the shockingly unique and bizarre, that won't make a bit of difference at all.               

X

 

Director: Ti West
Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn
Running Time: 106 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)  

At first glance, it may not be obviously apparent just how straightforward a slasher Ti West's X is, as he does an admirable job making it play like some kind of meta genre deconstruction and throwback ode to 70's horror. You'd be hard pressed to find a recent film more enamored with the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, at least in terms of plot and setting. And that's where the similarities end. Despite looking great and carrying a specific authenticity steeped in the era, when it ends you can't help but shrug. Utilizing everything short of John Larroquette's opening narration to pay homage to TCM, you instead realize after a promising start this comes closer to matching the quality of its derided sequels and prequels than the genuine article. 

The film's saving grace is a really interesting idea that isn't mined enough, carried by a star-making performance that's probably worth the admission price alone, Moving at a glacial pace, it lacks suspense, isn't exactly "scary" and leads where you'd expect. Part of the problem might be the amount of time spent on the making of the intentionally bad pornographic movie within a movie, with the drawn out scenes slowly draining the life out of the actual story. And yet it's still easy to see why West would feel compelled to craft a prequel centered around its best character, especially considering the astonishing talent of his lead actress. Far from unwatchable or poorly made, X is a ride, albeit a more disappointingly shallow one than expected given its promising premise.

It's 1979 and aspiring pornographic actress Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) joins her producer boyfriend Wayne (Martin Henderson), actors Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson Hole (Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi), and director RJ (Owen Campbell) with girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) for a road trip to Texas to shoot their adult film, The Farmer's Daughters. Upon arriving at the guest house Wayne negotiated to rent from the farm's elderly owners Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearl (Goth), the crew is met with immediate hostility and skepticism by the married couple. And that's even before they find out what they're filming in there. 

As RJ's lofty ambitions to direct an important work of cinematic art are derailed by tensions within the cast, Pearl silently stalks Maxine, becoming increasingly jealous and sexually aroused by the actress's  youth and vitality. Those feelings soon extend to everyone else, with this old, frail woman going on an unhinged rampage to extract revenge on those she thinks are living lives that should still be hers. Tragedy and bloodshed ensues, as it becomes a battle of wills to see who will be able to make it out of this farm house alive. 

West gets more than a few things right, at least making it partially understandable how this has garnered acclaim comparable to some of A24's previous horror outings, most of which are superior. If nothing else, it looks and feels like the late 1970's, with a strong soundtrack, wardrobe and production choices that believably invoke the mood of the period. And the opening half hour successfully introduces all the characters while setting up an intriguing if overly familiar scenario that has you eagerly anticipating what follows. 

The deliberate pacing hints that maybe West has taken a page out of the original TCM playbook by slowly building suspense until the actual carnage. But at some point the script just loses its way, becoming so engulfed in the filming of this porno that the narrative hits a wall and never quite recovers. You'd figure if nothing else worked, at least the fictitious adult film scenes would grab attention, but they're actually kind of a bore until a conflict within the ranks splinters everyone off in different directions and the massacre starts. 

An elderly woman going on a killing rampage to recapture her glory days from a much younger generation is a different concept ripe for further exploration. The framework's also there to invoke genuine empathy, but before you know it we've descended into a series of graphic kills played for the kind of self referential visual gags found in any contemporary slasher, only better filmed. But what's most frustrating is how in between that West pauses for these meditative moments and beautiful shots, suggesting a complexity that lurks beneath the story's surface, struggling to escape.

Mia Goth's a revelation as both the free-spirted, coke-snorting Maxine and murderous Pearl, completely unrecognizable under heavy prosthetics as the latter, with every movement and mannerism leaving no doubt we're watching a woman nearing her end, desperately clinging to a past that can't again be revisited, even vicariously through Maxine. West just eventually turns her into a killing machine, but Goth brings humanity to a handful of scenes where she's afforded that opportunity. As Maxine, she's equally effective, carrying this story on her back as an aspiring starlet marching to the beat of her own drum, conveying this odd mix of strength, vulnerability and ethereal quirkiness that's already earned the actress comparisons to the great Shelley Duvall. That feels accurate, as does a future filled with roles even better than this.

Scream's Jenna Ortega extends her horror streak as the shy, introspective Lorraine, who eventually takes steps steps to bust out of her churchgoing shell, much to boyfriend RJ's displeasure. Brittany Snow is saddled with silliness, Kid Cudi does well with a fairly underwritten part, and Henderson and Campbell fulfill what's required of them as the somewhat sleazy older producer boyfriend and film geek director. But of everyone, it's Goth's magnetic screen presence that stands out the most.

There is a clever ending twist and the fountain of youth themes West plays with do land, at least up until a last act that doesn't really match the tone of anything that preceded it. As strange as it seems, the best news to come out of this is its prequel Pearl should likely give Goth her own showcase to fill in the character's blanks, possibly making this effort more tolerable on a rewatch. But for now, labeling X an unpleasant, messy experience will have to be the best backhanded compliment it'll get.