“A B-movie with A ideas” is how director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) describes her work on horror sequel “The Puritan II” in “MaXXXine,” the third movie in Ti West’s “X” trilogy, and that description could easily apply to West’s horror series as a whole. Beginning with 2022’s “X” and continuing through its 2022 prequel “Pearl” and 2024 sequel “MaXXXine,” West and star Mia Goth created a franchise that has already cemented its place among horror classics, and all three movies can now be streamed on Hulu.
I saw each film when it was initially released, but rewatching them all back-to-back recently made West’s achievement even more impressive, as he offers a master class in cinematic homage across three movies. Not only does he borrow from the rich history of horror, as might be expected, but also from the disparate sources of both classic Hollywood and vintage adult films, filtering all of those influences through his own unique sensibility and Goth’s mesmerizing screen presence.
My favorite among the three films is still the first, “X,” but all of them have their unique strengths, and all are anchored by Goth’s indelible dual performance as two women who dream of stardom. While Pearl Douglas sublimates her showbiz failures into homicidal rampages that persist for decades, Maxine Minx refuses to let anyone get in the way of her rise to fame, even if that means resorting to violence. Both women are complex, fascinating figures who belong in the horror pantheon.
‘X’ sets the stage for a brilliant trilogy
A newspaper headline in “MaXXXine” refers to the events of “X” as “The Texas Porn Star Massacre,” and West is clearly paying homage to Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” with a movie set in Texas in 1979, just a few years after the release of Hooper’s slasher classic. There’s more to “X” than just a tribute to a genre landmark, though, and West puts his own stamp on the slasher movie while also delivering a compelling period piece set during a pivotal period in the evolution of adult film.
Maxine is just one part of a small crew who arrive at a remote farm owned by Pearl and her husband Howard (Stephen Ure) to film a porn movie called “The Farmer’s Daughters.” Maxine’s fiancé Wayne Gilroy (Martin Henderson) is the owner of the strip club where she performs, and also an aspiring producer with big dreams about porn’s commercial potential. Director RJ Nichols (Owen Campbell) wants to create something more artistic, and Maxine doesn’t care either way, as long as it’s a stepping stone on her way to stardom.
The elderly Pearl and Howard aren’t too pleased to discover what their tenants are planning to do, but their violent reaction isn’t rooted in self-righteous judgment. For Pearl, it’s about jealousy, and Goth, under some truly stunning old-age makeup, makes Pearl both tragic and terrifying, as she brutally attacks the unsuspecting filmmakers.
“The story can’t just suddenly change midway through,” RJ complains when his sound recordist girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) decides she wants to appear on camera, but that’s exactly what West pulls off in “X,” shifting from a stylish and funny look at a scrappy adult film production to an equally stylish and gruesome backwoods slasher picture.
‘Pearl’ deepens the killer’s tragic backstory
West seamlessly switches genres and approaches for the lush, old-fashioned melodrama of “Pearl,” a prequel set in 1918 and featuring Goth as the younger version of the title character. “Pearl” is still a horror movie, especially during its gory and unsettling climax, but it also borrows from the “women’s pictures” of filmmakers like Douglas Sirk and the tradition of heightened film noir presented in lurid color. Pearl herself dresses in a way that recalls Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” which makes her decidedly non-wholesome actions even more horrifying.
Young Pearl lives on the same farm where she and Howard will reside decades later, and she’s already married to Howard, who’s overseas fighting in World War I. She’s stuck with her cold, domineering German immigrant mother Ruth (Tandi Wright) and her invalid father (Matthew Sunderland), who requires constant care. Like Maxine, Pearl dreams of stardom, but she’s also a budding psychopath, casually killing animals before escalating to the kind of murders that viewers have already seen her commit in “X.”
Even so, she’s a sympathetic figure, less pathetic than her older self but still hopelessly lost, with her naïve visions of appearing in films like the ones shown at the picture house in town. That’s where she meets the handsome projectionist (David Corenswet), who talks about his bohemian lifestyle and plans to travel to Europe, and shows her an illicit “stag film,” an earlier version of the porn that Maxine is making in “X.”
The centerpiece of “Pearl” is a bravura eight-minute monologue that Pearl delivers to her sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro), laying out her hopes, dreams and fears even as she confesses to multiple killings. Of the three movies, “Pearl” is the most fully realized showcase for Goth’s acting, and she delivers an intense performance that is equal parts heartbreaking and disturbing.
‘MaXXXine’ brings the trilogy to a satisfying close
Although it received mixed reviews compared to the more widespread positive response to the first two films, “MaXXXine” is just as impressive a stylistic exercise, drawing on giallo movies and erotic thrillers for a story of Hollywood sleaze set in 1985. After emerging from “X” as the traditional slasher-movie final girl, Maxine is now living in Hollywood, attempting to transition from adult films to more mainstream fare, which is how she meets Elizabeth Bender.
Her experience in Texas catches up with her, though, as a mysterious black-gloved killer stalks and kills her fellow porn performers, while a pair of police detectives (Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan) set their sights on Maxine. Although she’s less of a haunting figure than Pearl, Maxine is still compelling to watch, as she weaponizes her self-confidence to take on film-industry doubters as well as more nefarious adversaries.
After channeling Tobe Hooper for “X” and Douglas Sirk for “Pearl,” West channels Brian De Palma for “MaXXXine,” up to and including De Palma’s penchant for convoluted plots and multiple drawn-out endings. While the third act is a bit shaky, “MaXXXine” is just as much a B-movie with A ideas as its predecessors. West combines genres and eras to create an indelible horror trilogy that is uniquely his own.
Stream the “X” trilogy on Hulu now
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