MaXXXine

La conclusion de la trilogie X / Pearl / MaXXXine commence de manière prometteuse et ravit par son ton insidieusement sinistre, son horreur de mauvais goût, son style audiovisuel des années 80 et son cadre de studio de cinéma hollywoodien, mais la représentation d’une secte satanique et l’impression laissée par le dénouement font tomber le film dans un délire scénaristique paresseux et bon marché dont les fans de la franchise ne voudront pas. De plus, même la présence du célèbre « Night Stalker » (voir l’excellent documentaire de Netflix) n’est pas exploitée par le film, qui ne le mentionne que dans des actualités. [Festival international du film de Karlovy Vary] (07/07/2024)

Ti West conclut ainsi sa trilogie texano-hollywoodienne libre et on peut désormais y voir une sorte de parabole. Avec X, West nous éblouissait avec un style visuel rétro très réussi, même si le scénario simpliste nous laissait sur notre faim. Puis est venu Pearl, une étude de caractère horrifique assez admirable et le point culminant (ou l'anomalie) de la trilogie entière, voire de tout le catalogue du réalisateur. Avec MaXXXine, West revient en quelque sorte au début, soit à la victoire de la forme sur le fond, le tout semblant légèrement bâclé et inachevé sur le papier. Peut-être que le réalisateur est un peu à court d'idées ? Mais ça reste malgré tout un bon moment de divertissement, avec des visuels impressionnants et une représentation crédible du milieu des années 80. Ti West n'a jamais été un scénariste de haut vol, mais il aime le cinéma, aime la réalisation et aime aussi citer les classiques du genre. Après l'excellent Pearl, une légère déception, mais toujours un bon spectacle sans prétention. [KVIFF 2024] (06/07/2024)

The worst of the loose trilogy and three levels lower than the previous and excellent Pearl. It's as if Ti West ran out of ideas and Mia Goth in the producer's chair didn't help. It has no pizzazz, not a single memorable scene, no visual ideas. The insane 80s atmosphere is minimally exploited, and if it was at least as dull as the typical slashers of the era, I'd say to myself "good, West pays homage skillfully". Except the gore and murders are almost absent, the whole thing is devoid of wit and suspense, and the director does try to make a point, but it's pulled out of his ass with the whole "cult" thing, and I just shook my head during the shootout by the pool. Kevin Bacon makes a couple of unnecessary appearances, and his role is fades out in a few minutes, and Goth, whose performance in Pearl had me in a trance, bored me here. If only West had at least included the Night Stalker, who is mentioned throughout the film, but no way. It almost feels like West and the crew just wanted to fool around with the camera and conceived the whole thing in a lazily, half-assed and half-throttled manner. (26/08/2024)

Ti West once again convincingly fetishizes the horror subgenre of yesteryear, unfortunately this time I have a bit of a problem with it, because this particular slice of horror (80s trash set in the streets of a big city) is not one of my favorites. I guess subjectively I would have much preferred if MaXXXine had a more prominent role for the giallo elements that it is partly based on. I can tolerate a sleazy thriller with a charmingly demented satanic panic twist, but it won't become my favourite. And even though it's pleasantly refreshing in specific moments, uncompromising and, for all its stupidity, nicely contrived, the various motifs fit together meaningfully. (16/07/2024)

MaXXXine Minx is an adult film star, but she wants to take the next step in her career and is aiming for the lead role in an upcoming horror film. But succeeding in a Hollywood filled with madmen, serial killers and violence won't be easy. Especially when her past comes to mind. Ti West has conceived the final installment of his trilogy as a great homage to the 80s and the brainy thrillers and horror films of that era, and has uncompromisingly subordinated everything to it. Anyone expecting a traditional thriller with light genre games is in for a bummer. MaXXXine isn't afraid to be a wild, ridiculous and bizarre B-movie. And it certainly doesn't try to be cute. But it's undoubtedly interesting not just to fans of what West is paying homage to here. (09/07/2024)

Ti West completed his trilogy of horror movies starring Mia Goth with a spectacular ultra-pastiche that in a certain respect not only tops off the series and the director’s filmography to date, but also the entire filmmaking tradition of decadent genres. Since time immemorial, all trash filmmakers have longed for acceptance and recognition, which means studio facilities and shooting in Hollywood. West’s trilogy about the alluring nature of filmmaking and promises of fame ends there. The director absolutely delights in the eclectic composition of allusions and references. His film radiates enthusiasm for the high and the low, thus setting side by side allusions ranging from porn to Chinatown, from American trash to giallo, and from Psycho to The Long Goodbye. Taking full advantage of the fulfilled dream of making his film under the wing of the celebrated Universal Studios, he stages a fannish tour of not only iconic locations in L.A., but mainly Universal’s outdoor sets. In so doing, he recalls the VHS era, highlights genre movies made by ambitious female directors and settles accounts with the religionists and moralists who protested against trash filmmakers and their works in the 1980s. However MaXXXine still primarily remains a hedonistic genre fantasy that doesn’t aim for historical accuracy (e.g. female directors were given room to work by Corman, not by the major studios). The main denominator here is the filmmaker’s own joy and, ideally, that of viewers having the same mindset. We could reach for the word Tarantino-esque, but that would be inadequate and limiting in any case. Because whereas Tarantino makes ultimate paraphrases of his favourite genres by ingeniously twisting iconic moments with his screenwriting, West outright composes an enthusiastic tribute that makes do with a fetishistic reconstruction that isn’t much more sophisticated than its inspirations in terms of screenwriting, but is joyfully informed by those films and enthusiastically revels in the possibilities that present themselves (which is perfectly confirmed by the closing vanity shot). (30/06/2024)

"In this business, until you're known as a monster, you're not a star." From the very first scene, with the gate to the studio hell and the thrown cigarette butt on the star Theda Bara’s spot on the Walk of Fame, it’s clear what kind of cult Ti West worships here. I don’t begrudge him the trashiness of the content, but rather the deviation from his usual storytelling pace, which might have worked better with Mulholland Drive vibes in terms of atmosphere, and also the sloppy finale with the cultists, where the pastiche dangerously started to verge on parody. But it’s pointless to lament over it when we’ve ended up in Pleasuredome and she’s got Bette Davis eyes. Would you like a slice of bacon? (15/08/2024)

MaXXXine is the weakest part of Ti West’s horror trilogy, but as a tribute to the dirty, bloody slasher B-movies of the 1980s, it is a truly delicious treat in terms of its audio-visual aspect. The film skilfully plays with the period stylisation (VHS rental shop, practical gore effects) and the dream-factory setting (the plot is set in Hollywood and Universal’s film sets), as well as with numerous references to other horror movies and quotes of motifs and clichés corresponding to the genre. However, the script lacks the sophistication of the second part of the trilogy and is qualitatively more like those goofy old horror trash flicks to which it spectacularly pays homage. (06/07/2024)