I rate this second best in Ti West's "X" trilogy ("X" (2022), "Pearl" (2022), "MaXXXine" (2024)) - if you havent seen this set of movies, theyre worth checking out if you have nothing better to do.
MaXXXine is the final installment of the story of an adult film actor turned movie star in late 1970s/early 80s Hollywood. But its more than that...these center around the struggle to become famous (or infamous) but wrapped up as a murder/mystery/serial killer slasher, splattered with a healthy dose of blood, violence, and some super squeamish moments
a lot of people say "Pearl" is their favorite in this series but i found that one a bit annoying (for lack of a better way to describe it, although it was the most stylish and different). MaXXXine is a little more standard in terms of the story telling and execution and i was mostly into it.
The first 2 acts were pretty engaging with a good amount of WTF graphic violence and gore but i felt like the third act dragged at some points and then just kinda fizzled out once the twist dropped.
Overall, i did like this and would reco but only to those who are already familiar with the two movies preceding it. Yes, you could watch this as a standalone but many of the references and the general story would be lost if youre not already aware of Maxine's journey. If you have a night or two and want to turn off your brain for some very adult horror, check out all 3 listed above in release order.
