Stephen Kingis a fan ofMaXXXine, the latest (and maybe final) entry in Ti West’s X trilogy. The slasher, which landed in theaters July 5, follows Mia Goth’s Maxine as she finally gets her big break during the 1980s in Hollywood. Before the film’s release, iconic horror author King (who often shares his opinion on films and movies on X) took to the platform to sing the film’s praises, simply sharing:“MaXXXine is terrific.”
King’s high marks for Goth and West’s latest collaboration shouldn’t come as a surprise - expectations forMaXXXineare high, given the trilogy’s acclaimed previous entries:X, which critics heralded as a successful throwback to old school slashers, and Pearl, which featured a Fangoria Chainsaw Award-winning performance by Goth. Both films also did well at the box office, withXgrossing $15.1M andPearlbringing in $10.1M (the films were produced on a $1M budget each).
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Is MaXXXine the Perfect Finale to the X Trilogy?
Despite early praise (including a 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a strong 78% from audiences),MaXXXinedoesn’t quite reach the triumph of its predecessors. While critics applaud thepowerful performances by Elizabeth Debickiand Goth, some find the film’s pacing uneven and the third act disappointing. MovieWeb’sWill Sayer has this to say in his review:
“West’s latest feature may lose out toPearlin terms of timeless, hard-hitting material, but thrives on offering a unique blend of genres and subgenres. InMaXXXine, we get a biting satire of Hollywood (Maxine’s absurdist press interviews as she rises the ranks in Hollywood are hilarious) combined with the smoky ’80s horror and erotic thriller vibes of Brian De Palma, plus a delicious soundtrack we could consume all day. But the high-concept editing (from the director himself) reminds us we are indeed in the year 2024, and proves that the possibilities of the moving-image medium are still increasingly endless, at least with an auteur like Ti West in charge.”
TheXfilmseries, initially conceived as a trilogy by West, might just keep rolling. During an interview withEWin May, West suggested he is open to expanding the slasher world ofXbeyond the planned three films.
“I’m fairly confident that this will probably be the end of the Maxine era. I do have one idea that plays into these movies that could maybe happen, but I don’t know if it’ll be next.”
Elaborating on that possibility, West more recently told the publication:
“I’ll say that, if there’s more to be done in the ‘X’franchise, it’s certainly not what people are expecting it to be. It’s not just picking up again a few years later. It’s not something like that. It’s different in the way thatPearlwas an unexpected departure. It’s another unexpected departure.”
MaXXXine, starring Goth,Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon, is now in theaters.
