MaXXXine brings us the conclusion to Ti West’s horror trilogy. Starting with X in 2022 and followed by Pearl the same year, he set us up for a beautiful ’80s noir with MaXXXine, and the movie does not disappoint. But the ending really puts a bow on Maxine’s story.
Spoilers ahead!
Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is an adult film star who wants more. When she gets cast in The Puritan II, she ends up having to fight her own demons, as well as the fictional ones. She’s being stalked by a private detective as the Night Stalker is terrifying people around Los Angeles, but throughout the movie, we learn exactly why this private eye named John Labat (Kevin Bacon) is after her.
Maxine’s father, an evangelical preacher (Simon Prast), found her and is trying to “save” his daughter, which he does by … killing people surrounding Maxine. Her friend Tabby (Halsey), Leon (Moses Sumney), and more all die because of Maxine’s father. When she finally can’t let anyone else die because of her past, Maxine goes in search of answers, and she sees that her father killed her co-star, Molly Bennett (Lily Collins)—and he captures Maxine in the process.
He ties her to a tree, saying he’s going to keep his promise and make her a star. That promise is “fulfilled” in his eyes by filming an exorcism movie where he is killing the Hollywood demon inside of her. (My favorite character in this entire scene is a cult man who is operating the boom mic. He’s just funny.) Just as her father is about to brand her face with the sign of the devil to cast the demon out, police officers who were working to stop the murders arrive and stop the “exorcism.”
Maxine isn’t letting her father go easily
The police officers (played by Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan) try to shoot at her father, but they both get hurt in the process. So, it is up to Maxine to finally stop him. She gets up under the Hollywood sign while he’s on the ground, and she’s standing over him with a gun in her hand.
She pictures the life she’ll lead after this: fame for stopping a serial killer, success because of the film, and the stardom she’s always wanted. We flash back to reality, and a police helicopter is telling her to put the gun down, but she first takes her father out.
The film then takes us to the first day of filming The Puritan II, and Maxine is a free woman. Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) checks in with Maxine, and they’re prepared to start shooting.
What does the ending mean?
Maxine’s story has always been one of trying to find success. She didn’t want to just be a movie star; she wanted to be famous. And what we see at the end of MaXXXine is her getting that dream despite everything stacked against her. She literally evaded two serial killers so that she could star in her very own movie. That’s impressive.
I think the reality is that this really is just a trilogy, not a franchise that will keep going forever. MaXXXine wrapped up her storyline incredibly well, and unless Maxine Minx wants to star in a movie about her life, this story is over. And hey, they did hint that she was going to work on a movie about what happened to her. I’d watch it all again.
Published: Jul 5, 2024 06:00 pm