MaXXXine (2024) --My Take on the Movie with Spoilers
Plot: In 1985 Maxine finally gets her big break in a horror movie. But a serial killer is on the loose and may have ties to her past.
The trilogy finally comes to an end. After X and Pearl, MaXXXine was the most-anticipated movie as it was going to provide closure to the protagonist's story.
Make no mistake that the final installment of the trilogy is compelling but unlike the previous parts it is less exciting.
Mia Goth who plays the titular character looks like a background character in her own movie. Her character simply doesn't stand out and you will find yourself much more engaged with Elizabeth Debicki who plays the director Elizabeth Bender, Michelle Monaghan who plays Detective Williams, and Bobby Cannavale who plays Detective Torres.
There is something lacking in Maxine unlike in X where her character stood out, and of course Pearl where Mia Goth proved her acting chops.
MaXXXine is just a tepid drama with not enough thrills or tension to get you invested enough.
MaXXXine Movie Plot Summary
The movie begins with a black-and-white clip of a young girl performing for her father. She is told to repeat their family motto: I will not accept a life I do not deserve.
It's now 1985 and the world is rife with protests, satanic cults, and a serial killer is threatening the city of Los Angeles.
Maxine enters a studio with a panache and sits on a chair in front of casting directors. She is asked why she's leaving the adult film industry and she replies that she has done all that she can and now that she is approaching her thirties she wants satisfaction.
She doesn't need a paper to read her lines because she has memorized them. She gives a believable audition, impressing everyone. Before leaving, she is told to remove her top and she does it without blinking.
The director, Elizabeth, is clearly impressed with her performance and her style.
Outside, Maxine walks out and tells the other girls to go home because she nailed her part. The other girls look at her in shock but she gets into her car which has a number plate with MaXXXine on it. Hence the title.
Maxine is at home when she receives a call from her agent Teddy that while she didn't get one part, she has won the role in the horror movie The Puritan II.
Maxine is excited and goes to tell her roommate and friend Leon about it.
Later, Maxine is at her other job as a performer in a live peep show. She is told by her co-star Amber to attend a party with her but she declines.
Maxine then dons a wig and performs a seductive dance. The man on the other side of the glass isn't too happy and we see him flex his hands and then break the wooden frame around the glass. He may be the Night Stalker.
After work, Maxine is joined by another co-worker, Tabby who is going to this big party at Hollywood Hills too and asks Maxine to come along. Maxine isn't interested. She tells her friend about her new job and Tabby us happy for her and hopes she finds a job like that for herself as well. Maxine tells her to keep working hard.
Tabby expresses her gratitude that Maxine accompanied her since she is afraid to walk alone on the streets after dark because of the Night Stalker. Still, she muses that people do become famous after they are murdered.
After Tabby takes a cab to go to the party, Maxine walks alone but finds a man following her. She gets stuck at a dead end and the man pulls out a knife.
Maxine isn't afraid and wasn't kidding when she said before that she could take care of herself. She takes out her gun. The man drops his knife but Maxine doesn't show mercy.
She tells him to strip and then suck in her gun. He obliges but she isn't done with him yet. He tried to kill her and so he must be punished. She crushes his genitals before walking away.
At night, she is laying atop Leon while the first part of The Puritan plays on TV. She hears a knock and goes to open the door to find a package for her.
She finds a video cassette inside and plays it to find a recording of her explicit scene in a movie she had shot during the events of X. She sends Leon away rather than explain what is going on.
The next morning, Detective William and Detective Torres are in charge of a case where two women's bodies are pulled from the lake. They are Tabby and Amber. They have a Satanic symbol stamped on their face.
The detectives go to Maxine since both women are friends with her. Maxine isn't too cooperative with divulging any information. She doesn't want the police involved in her life considering what she has done in the past. Again, it is pertaining to her murdering the elderly couple in X.
Detective William chides Torres for being a terrible actor and not getting Maxine to talk.
Maxine is at the studio, having a mold made out of her head. She is left alone with all the goo on her head and while the FX artist goes away conveniently, someone approaches her from behind. Maxine senses his presence and panics then falls back.
The FX artist arrives to remove the goo from Maxine.
Afterward, Maxine receives a message to meet someone at a cafe.
Intrigued by who is sending her messages and knows about her past, she goes to see a man called Labat.
Earlier, we had seen Labat talk to someone he has been working with. The man is dressed in all black and supposedly the Night Stalker.
Labat tells Maxine that his employer is looking for her and that she needs to go see him. He gives her an address but Maxine ignores it.
She gives Leon the video cassette and asks him if he knows anything about it. He gives her some info and Maxine then heads off to work. The director, Elizabeth, tells Maxine that the producers had turned her down but she stuck her neck out for Maxine so she needs to work hard.
Maxine sees Molly from the first part of Puritan, play her role. Elizabeth isn't too happy with the amount of blood on her and slaps more on her. Molly shakes hands with Maxine who also gets the fake blood on her. Now they all have blood on their hands, according to Elizabeth.
Molly speaks to Maxine and tells her to do exactly as Elizabeth tells her to do and try not to add any of her own flair. She then tells Maxine about a party she has been invited to.
While all this is going on, Leon is in his video store, getting his throat slit from the back.
The next morning, Maxine hears police sirens and sees the detectives come at the scene. She goes down to see a body being brought out and a knife being taken in a bag. The detectives show her Leon's body with the same satanic symbol branded on his face.
Maxine has a breakdown. The detectives question her and offer her a cola. There was McDonald's shown before too.
Maxine refuses to answer any questions even as Detective William pleads with her to help her save more girls. Maxine says they need to learn to save themselves.
She doesn't drink the Cola. Does this count as a promo if the actor doesn't drink Coca Cola?
Maxine is being followed by Labat who isn't discouraged even after being punched in the face. Sick of him stalking her, she enlists the help of her agent and another guy who works at the junkyard. She gets Labat to follow her out of the nightclub. Before that we are subjected to scenes of unclean toilets.
Labat is knocked out and when he awakens, he is handcuffed to a steering wheel and flattened by a car crusher. That's the end of Kevin Bacon's miniscule and unimpressive role. He could have done much better than this.
Teddy tells Maxine to leave it to him to clean the mess. After all, what are agents for? The dogs in the yard go up to feed on crushed Labat pieces.
MaXXXine Ending Explained with Spoilers
Maxine is at her home, tossing away the address Labat gave her before remembering how Detective William had requested her for help. She decides to see just who had been trying to stalk her.
She goes to the address and sees the same clip being played, the one with Maxine not accepting anything less than she deserves.
She finds her father at the house and is shocked to learn that he is the one killing off people because he believes Hollywood has been corrupting young minds.
Maxine tries to make a run for it but knocks against a suitcase which has Molly's dismembered remains in it. The head falls slowly down the stairs. Maxine is knocked out from behind.
When she awakens, she finds herself tied to a palm tree. Her father, Ernest is in robes and beckons his followers. He claims he wants to showcase the murders and show the world the evils of Hollywood. He thinks his daughter is under an evil influence and wants to perform an exorcism on her.
This scene is hurried along and appears to be a misfit in the whole movie.
Anyway, Detective William and Detective Torres arrive just on time to save Maxine. The followers and the detectives engage in a shootout.
Ernest makes a run for it and manages to shoot Torres. He tells Maxine to hide while William tries to be a hero. She ends up with a cross in her eye and falls down the mountain where the Hollywood sign is.
Maxine manages to overpower Ernest and is about to shoot him when she hears a helicopter above her.
She imagines herself becoming a star after her movie becomes a hit. She envisions her being interviewed and being called brave for taking down her own father.
Maxine comes back to the present and father and daughter together say the family motto: I will not accept a life I do not deserve. Maxine thanks her father for his help before blowing his head off. We are subjected to yet another gross and graphic scene.
Later, Maxine has gotten fame for helping catch the Night Stalker. At the set, there is a moment of silence for Molly before they resume shooting using Maxine's sculpted head.
Elizabeth confides in Maxine that Molly did not have much potential or a future beyond the Puritan films but that Maxine does. She asks what else she wants.
Maxine looks at her prosthetic head on screen and says she never wants it to end. Her fame, supposedly.
The movie ends.
MaXXXine has gore but not enough thrills to keep you interested in the mystery. Once it is revealed who the Night Stalker is, there is not much surprise nor interest in what happens next.
MaXXXine is just an okay movie that concludes the trilogy. Nothing more.
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