This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Aidan’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
‘MaXXXine’ is a phenomenal end to the X trilogy and it just felt so stylish with the soundtrack, costume design and even the editing which made it feel so 80s. Was it chaotic? Hell yeah. That’s the thing though, if you’re expecting a slow-burn where it takes the time to introduce you to everything like that of ‘X’, then you might be disappointed. You have to realise that these movies are set in different decades and so things are gonna be a little different which is why ‘MaXXXine’ is a quick-paced, flashy movie where everything is much more big and dramatic because guess what? That’s what a lot of 80s blockbusters are. This is what I really like about this movie though, it’s that it feels so much more different to the rest of the trilogy and also why I love this trilogy as a whole because each movie is just so different.
Mia Goth is just nothing short of incredible in this movie and I loved the supporting cast as well with the standouts being quite literally everyone, even Halsey surprisingly! I really like how Maxine is played by Goth and how she has toughened up since the events of ‘X’ but still shows signs of vulnerability when she is confronted by her past. It just makes her more interesting as a character rather than her just being a badass which of course is cool but then again nobody just becomes a full on badass after experiencing a traumatising situation so it made Maxine feel more real.
The only reason that I’m not giving the movie five stars is that I believe the first act was a little bit rough around the edges. I think that like the very start of the movie where Maxine auditions for the role is done well and sets the movie off greatly but I think the rest of the first act could have been done a little bit better in my opinion. It did feel like they were just trying to get the beginning over and done with so I feel like a little more time spent there would have done wonders.
I’m going to admit, I was a little sceptical when it was actually official that the movie would have mention of the Night Stalker because of course this was a real serial killer and having it included in media can be a touchy subject due to some projects not executing it well (ahem… AHS: 1984). However, I think that the usage of him, or rather the name, is used to enhance the impact of the killer’s motives in this movie which I think was the best way to utilise him. In my mind, I view this as a necessary subplot in the movie and maybe I might be the minority, I don’t know, but it’s my opinion so who fucking cares.
The reason that I find the usage of the Night Stalker to be more impactful due to who the killer actually is, is because this movie is set during the satanic panic. Ernest, who is Maxine’s father as well as the killer in this movie, is an extremist Christian and maybe you think that this makes it more impactful and shocking since the killings were made to look like it was done by the hand of a satanist but then it’s revealed that a Christian done it, right? One could view it that way, but I believe that it is something so much more deeper than that because when you start to compare the ideologies and values of a satanist (from the viewpoint of citizens during the satanic panic era) and extremist Christians like Ernest, how different are they? I think that there’s a really fine line between the two and we see this through the usage of the cattle iron which marked people with the pentagram. From a satanist viewpoint, the marking would be used as worship for the devil - and on the other hand, from a Christian viewpoint, they used it in the movie to shame those who didn’t follow their values in an act of worshipping god. Of course these acts of worship are polar opposites, but in the end, they hurt people.
Also I just want to say that the funniest moment of the movie to me is when she says “hold it right there buster” to the Buster Keaton impersonator is just so fucking good I don’t care. Peak comedy right there for me.
