What to know before watching MaXXXine
Scream queen Mia Goth is back for third film in Ti West's horror trilogy
As Hollywood serves up a summer of scares, scream queen Mia Goth is back in MaXXXine – the third film in Ti West's X horror trilogy.
The blood-splattered movie follows 2022's 70s-set slasher X, and 2023's Pearl, the unsettling prequel that told the origin story of X's villain.
West's low-budget horror flicks have built up quite the reputation, earning critical acclaim and proving to be successes at the box office.
As the trilogy concludes, read on for everything you need to know about MaXXXine, including its cast, plot and trailers.
How can I watch MaXXXine?
MaXXXine is available to buy and rent now on Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Sky Store. The film originally slashed its way into UK cinemas on Friday, 5 July.
X and Pearl are also available to watch from home if you need to catch up on the gory franchise so far.
West first screened a teaser of MaXXXine during a screening at Pearl at Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. Producers A24 fast-tracked the film to capitalise on the success of the previous two instalments.
Is there a trailer for MaXXXine?
The neon-drenched official trailer for MaXXXine was released by A24 in April. Soundtracked by Animotion's track Obsession, the clip transports us to the seedy world of 1980s Hollywood – complete with a serial killer on the loose.
Intriguingly, it also includes a glimpse of the iconic Bates Motel from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho on the Universal studio lot.
Watch: Official trailer for MaXXXine
A second trailer landed online in June, giving us a further look at West and Goth's twisted take on Tinseltown. Hit the play button below...
Watch: MaXXXine Official Trailer 2
Is MaXXXine worth watching?
MaXXXine has received largely positive reviews from critics.
The Guardian called it a "horribly watchable" flick that mixes "pulp, gore, filth and fear", while The Independent described the slasher as "nasty, funny, and cogent about the era it's set in".
IndieWire said the trilogy-topper was "gruesome and vital", and hailed Goth's "most well-rounded performance yet". However, the Telegraph claimed the film lacks substance, despite its "impeccable" style, and instead offers up "a jumble sale's worth of homages".
Read the full verdicts below:
The Guardian: A horribly watchable Hollywood tale of sex, death, fear and gore (3-minute read)
The Independent: Mia Goth stuns in this cocaine-fuelled Hollywood slasher (3-minute read)
IndieWire: Ti West and Mia Goth Crush It in the Defining Film of Brat Girl Summer (5-minute read)
The Telegraph: Oodles of style but little substance in this homage to 80s horror (3-minute read)
What happens in MaXXXine?
MaXXXine takes place in Hollywood in 1985, six years after the events of X, in which porn star Maxine Minx was the only survivor of a massacre on the set of an adult film.
She is now on the road to mainstream stardom, having landing a role in a schlocky horror movie called The Puritan II.
Meanwhile, a mysterious serial killer known as the Night Stalker is targeting young actresses in Tinseltown. Minx knows three of the victims and, according to the official synopsis, "a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past".
Goth has teased that MaXXXine is "the best film of the trilogy". She told Variety: "It's the biggest story of the three with the highest stakes and Maxine has gone through so much at this point. So when we find her in this new world, she's just a force to be reckoned with and she goes through some pretty wild adventures."
Who stars in MaXXXine?
As mentioned above, Goth reprises her role as Maxine Minx, an adult film star with dreams of breaking into Hollywood. The British actor previously starred in both X and its prequel, Pearl, which was set in 1918 and explored the origin story of the elderly killer behind X's massacre.
Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito plays Minx's agent, while The Crown's Elizabeth Debicki portrays the director of The Puritan II. Emily in Paris' Lily Collins is one of Minx's co-stars on the film-within-a-film.
Kevin Bacon plays a private detective hired to find Maxine, while Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Canavale are LAPD officers hunting the Night Stalker.
The cast also includes two musicians in Halsey and Moses Sumney, both of whom have prior acting experience. Sumney recently appeared in HBO series The Idol while Halsey will soon be seen in crime thriller Americana alongside Sydney Sweeney.
Is MaXXXine based on a true story?
No. Like X and Pearl, MaXXXine is a work of fiction. However, the serial killer is based on the real-life 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez, who murdered at least 13 people in California between 1984 and 1985.
Will there be a fourth film in the franchise?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West said that MaXXXine is "probably" the final entry in the X franchise, though he didn't explicitly rule out a fourth movie.
"I do have one idea that plays into these movies that could maybe happen," he said. "I don't know if it'll be next. It might be. We'll see."
Meanwhile, Goth told Digital Spy that "it would be hard to say no to Ti" if he wanted to make another film. She added: "I've been working with Ti for the past five years and yes he's my collaborator, but he's also my friend. Never say never."
MaXXXine is available to buy and rent now
