Extremely Gothic: Mia Goth kills it as a porn star heroine in meta slasher trilogy finale ‘MaXXXine’
“MaXXXine” — 2.5 stars
The final chapter in Ti West’s exuberantly meta slasher trilogy — along with “X” and “Pearl” — “MaXXXine” cements Mia Goth’s reputation as the Jennifer Jason Leigh of the 21st century.
That’s no small compliment.
Leigh famously and ferociously took on acting challenges that most mainstream actresses would run from, especially her sexually bold, quirky characters in 1980s releases, including “Last Exit to Brooklyn,” "Flesh+Blood" and "Heart of Midnight."
Likewise, Goth proves to be equally fearless not only in her full-throttle portrayals of triumphant victims in “X” and “Pearl,” but also in unabashedly kinky characters in Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” and Brandon Cronenberg’s insane sci-fi horror tale “Infinity Pool.”
Goth’s magnetic, force-of-nature performance as porn star Maxine Minx dominates “MaXXXine,” a hodgepodge of graphic violence, gruesome female empowerment and sleazy 1980s grindhouse nostalgia.
With its clunky, belabored references to classic horror tales and vintage porn films, “MaXXXine” suggests a subpar Quentin Tarantino project, a deliberately bad movie given some Hollywood gloss and glitter. Or as Brit filmmaker Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) tells the titular character, “It’s a B-movie with A ideas.”
It’s also 1985, the time of Ronald Reagan, Family Values, the war on objectionable lyrics and smut in movies, and the explosion of the home video market, specifically VHS tapes.
It’s also the time of the infamous serial killer the Night Stalker, a modern-day Jack the Ripper stalking the sordid streets of Hollywood Boulevard, impeccably re-created here in sensationally accurate detail. (I can personally attest to this.) Tough and driven, Maxine nails her audition for the upcoming demonic possession sequel “The Puritan 2,” produced by Bender, something of a kindred, survivalist soul. She warns Maxine to be careful.
Maxine says she can take care of herself. She proves it when confronted by a goofy knife-wielding assailant (Zachary Mooren) dressed as Buster Keaton. She whips out a pistol and says, “Drop it, Buster!” before crushing his naughty bits underfoot in the movie’s most wince-inducing visual.
When two of her porn star buddies, Amber (Chloe Farnworth) and Tabby (singer/songwriter Halsey), disappear while en route to a party at a producer’s Hollywood Hills house, two L.A. police detectives (Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan) put the squeeze on Maxine, sensing she knows more than she lets on.
Then along comes a subplot so oddly fascinating it threatens to eclipse the rest of this movie.
Kevin Bacon plays Louisiana private investigator John Labat, a shifty, seedy guy with a slow Southern drawl and two gold front teeth. He works for a mysterious person glimpsed only as a pair of creaking, crinkling black leather gloves (great sound design!) with a surprise connection to Maxine.
Labat’s hostile relationship plays out in amusing violence and menace, including a visit to the Bates house from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” on the Universal Pictures back lot, and climaxed by a crushing automotive reference to 007’s “Goldfinger.”
“MaXXXine” brims with sly humor (Maxine smooshes out a cigarette on Theda Bera’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star and snorts lines of cocaine with her SAG card) and genuine affection for maverick, independent genre films.
Yet, it’s as if West tossed a big box of sly references and provocative ideas on the silver screen, then simply employed them without bothering to explore and flesh them out.
This ranks as the weakest, least memorable entry in West’s independent trilogy, the most masterfully marketed horror tales since 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” with a new model for how to produce, promote and release films on tiny budgets.
So, enjoy “MaXXXine” for its stylistic flourishes, dedication to accurate and detailed set design, super sound effects, and sense of visual and verbal humor.
But mostly, witness another commanding Jennifer Jason Leigh-level performance from the amazing Mia Goth. She kills it.
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Starring: Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Monaghan
Directed by: Ti West
Other: An A24 theatrical release. Rated R for drug use, language, nudity, sexual situations, violence. 111 minutes