Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is an aspiring actress and adult film star, attending countless fruitless auditions while waiting for her big break to finally put her on the A-list acting map. But there’s a serial killer on the prowl with Maxine as a target. And Maxine has secrets she’d rather didn’t become public so she’s reluctant to report it. There’s a titillating premise to showcase the seedier, unglamorous side of Hollywood.

Writer/ Director Ti West created the MaXXXine porn-slasher universe with two popular indie films X and Pearl, both released in 2022. They paid tribute to the slasher movies of the 70s and 80s and both garnered critical and commercial success. X explores the inner workings of the adult entertainment industry and Pearl mines our desire to became rich and famous at any cost. MaXXXine is the third film in the series which combines both these themes.

In the current film, Maxine is the Stormy Daniels of the adult film world at the top of her game, and is ready to make the leap into serious acting with more prestigious roles. She’s talented, ambitious, determined, and unstoppable. Unironically, she’s cast in Puritan 2, a guerrilla budget slasher film set in L.A. Similarly, the film’s director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) is looking for her career break too into more serious films. Their relationship is prickly, but mutually-beneficial.

MaXXXine plays as a psycho-sexual thriller set in the murky back alleys of the L.A. at the height of the VHS era, while retaining the gritty, grindhouse, sleazy vibe of the 80s.

Ti West

MaXXXine doesn’t aim to reinvent the genre. In many respects, it aggregates the successful elements of these films – big hair, heavy makeup, few restrictions, and the obligatory ‘scream queen’ (Lily Collins) to wink at the exploitation films of the era.

A Nod To The 80s

MaXXXine is set in 1985, a pivotal year in America’s uneasy cultural history.

“It was the height of the Reagan era, and the Moral Majority, and the Night Stalker killer was on the loose in Southern California,” shares Ti West. Because of the kinds of movies Maxine has appeared in prior to her big break, she’s in the crosshairs of a cultural moment, where porn and horror movies, and heavy-metal music were targeted for being a corruptive influence on American youth.”

Concerned parents organized to have certain music banned for “offensive lyrical content.” They were the self-appointed moral antidote of the time with the sole aim of restoring traditional family values.

The decade was a time of hedonistic excess and outsized cultural expression. It was a time to remove social shackles and live for the moment without considering the consequences. The 80s were about having fun to the MaXXX.

Maxine represents everything wrong with America’s misled youth and is firmly in the sights of a serial killer – a televangelist.

The streets of Hollywood make prominent appearances in MaXXXine. There are numerous scenes on the (in)famous Hollywood Boulevard – the stars on the Walk Of Fame, the Chinese Theater and dim surrounding studio lots and back alleys.

Meet Maxine

In addition to the mystery leading to unveiling the identity of the killer, MaXXXine serves to reveal Maxine’s backstory which was only touched on in the previous films. She came from a small rural town with limited social exposure beyond its borders. Community behavior was closely monitored and controlled. Her decision to become a porn star was in direct rebellion to her strict upbringing.

Maxine (Mia Goth) & ELizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) Photo courtesy of A24

She also has career dreams and aspirations. If her home town can’t provide her with personal and preofessional fulfilment, she’ll find a place that does. In doing so, she trades the farmhouse for Hollywood’s unsavory streets. She’s sharp, aware, and astute. She faces life’s obstacles head on and refuses to surrender.

Maxine embraces the duality of her character. She’s vulnerable and in control. She’s innocent and world-weary. She’s a child and an adult. She’s tender and ferocious.

The 80s era represents the next wave of feminism in a patriarchal society. Maxine steps into her power both as an actress and a woman. As is Elizabeth, the director of Puritan 2. Both defy current conventions and show the male-dominated film business what they’re capable of. They refuse to wait for the establishment to catch up to them.

Despite swimming in a sea of sharks, Maxine’s manager Teddy Night Esquire (Giancarlo Esposito) supports her career ambitions.

Teddy wrestles putting on a confident and assured facade as a legitimate Hollywood player while navigating the fringes of the industry himself. He knows the constant struggle of reinventing himself from the bottom rung of the career ladder all too well. He’s a mentor, career advisor, and manager wrapped up in a father figure to fill in Maxine’s estranged father. No matter how bad things get, he repeatedly reminds her to “keep showing up and pursuing her dreams.”