Ti West did an interview talking about a long, uninterrupted shot in Maxxxine, and right away I was thinking Brian De Palma. I'm fully on board for this one. To me, the whole X series seems like Ti West's celebration of filmmaking, and his condemnation of Hollywood.
The film style though is definitely WW2 or post WW2 1950s technicolor type film. If X was a 1970s film then Pearl is 1950s film while Maxxxine is a 1980s film. I think that is what she meant.
In Pearl, Pearl tried to break free by pursuing stardom but she didn't make it. She lashed out on everyone including her own family but she never really got out. She held on to this. Freedom meant getting picked to dance and leaving the farm. In X, Pearl noticed this girl (Maxine) who is probably famous (through pornography) and she immediately gets attracted to her. But she tries to hold her prisoner. Maxine did panic in the movie and she tried to get free from Pearl. In this movie, Maxine cared little about being famous but she was rather trying to survive. Freedom meant becoming free from Pearl. In MaxXxine, she tried to pursue stardom through horror movies but was already free in her mind. She wasn't scared of anything or anyone. Freedom meant being in horror movies and not escaping the Nightstalker or any killer out in the streets. Freedom felt like a contagion which passed through these characters and, during its process, it evolved and mutated.
I absolutely loved the 3/4 of the movie, the setup, the amazing realism of the 80s style, the context and the tension of a moment impacted by a famous serial killer. Mia Goth is perfect, one more time. My only complaint is the cliched 3rd act.
I'd totally say this is the most commercialized A24 film in a long time with frequent ads and I've seen billboards here in there. So the spotlight definitely was on it to being the next smash hit. Mia Goth is absolutely queen on what she's delivered in these films. So regardless of any flaws there's no doubt I'll love Maxxxine. Bit of a anti-hero & it's amazing to witness🥰❤️🔥
Definitely got De Palma vibes with this too, especially with the split-screen sequences. I enjoyed this film too but was slightly disappointed by the conclusion. Great review, thank you!
This movie was almost all eyeroll for me, from the first shot to the credits. The whole trilogy feels like they didn't really have enough ideas to fill 3 movies and are just making style over substance movies that are ultimately pointless in the end
For some reason I remember you had issues with Pearl. Perhaps you saw it again and came around. It's a masterpiece that went under the radar. It will rise in stature down the line.
She did...she just kept saying "she wanted more of this...more of that....etc". I just don't understand sometimes. Its an hour and a half to 2 hour film. What MORE do you want in a nearly flawless film like Pearl? I get the sentiment as a huge film buff, but Ive never seen this girl ever be satisfied with a film during her reviews. Its ALWAYS in hindsight (many times years later) where she will speak highly of said film(s)... I do like her style of reviews, but at times its just pretentious.
@@iskywalking420 she never likes anything and when she does im not even sure she actually likes it, maybe she should make a film because it is starting to look like frustration. i unfollowed her , it's giving 2010 coffee shop hipster vibes
I think the “skeleton key” for interpreting Maxxxine’s place in the trilogy is to appreciate it as an ambivalent tragedy of success (Maxine basically gets what she wants, but at what cost to her soul/character?) in contrast with Pearl’s unambiguous tragedy of failure. In both cases, it’s rural-coded traditionalism that threatens to hold the heroine back while (possibly meretricious) urban-coded modernity offers the promise of success and escape. Pearl is a more immediately powerful film because its tragedy of failure delivers an immediate emotional gut-punch, while Maxine leaves a vague feeling of disquiet. Nevertheless, despite initially mixed reactions, I think Maxxxine may end up becoming the hipster-coded dark horse favorite of the trilogy in years to come, similar to Son of Frankenstein or Day of the Dead.
I sincerely appreciate and respect your opinion on this Maggie. I liked X, loved Pearl, and was underwhelmed with Maxxxine. I just felt there wasn’t much thematic/emotional weight in it as there was in the first 2 films. Also, I guessed who the main villain would be in the first 30 seconds of the film. It was sadly pretty predictable.
This one felt like it was constantly reminding me of better films that I would so much rather be watching. So disappointed that so many good performances by the side characters (especially Giancarlo finally moving on from Gus Fring) were wasted. The “twist” also falls so flat as it was pretty obvious but was also not developed at all
@@ajewishchristianmuslimI didn't see it coming tbh, largely because I wasn't at all focused on trying to figure out who the killer was. The who was irrelevant to me - what mattered is how Maxine as a character was suppressing/dealing with the reality of it. I agree the reveal fell flat but I'd say that has more to do with the limited character/thematic exploration of the killer's relationship to her. It still doesn't quite "make sense" that he would choose that level of violence as a means to his ends.
Just finished it. Pearl may have raised my expectations unreasonably high but I still have to say that (despite the rather flimsy third act) I found this to be quite a satisfying conclusion to what I believe will be looked back at as a classic horror trilogy, which produced a true masterpiece in Pearl and a real treat for horror fans general.
@@brannonwestbrook8339bro you ever watch a de palma film? He basically homaged and remade heavy aspects of psycho with dresses to kill and body double is rear window/vertigo and sisters if i recall is heavily hitchcock influenced. He’s literally said from his own words “it all started with hitchcock”. You’re too busy being a pedantic film bro about giallos that you miss the obvious. He was influenced by both heavily.
I don't think I've ever seen you so disappointed. I want to like Maxxxine too. For me, Pearl has more spirit than anything else. There are scenes in it that could have been powerful if the film's structure were stronger. Ti West has problems with continuity. His characters make choices that aren't consistent with their reality. For example, Pearl losing the piece of celluloid out of her pocket is clever, but her choice to veer off from the road and barrel into the cornfield while searching for the film lacks credibility. If I drop something, I look for it near where I lost it, not twenty yards off in a random direction. Simply put, Ti West cheats when he tells stories and it cheapens his movies. Mia Goth is supercool though.
It was probably my favorite scene of the movie, but the structure doesn't lay the logical framework for this illogical behavior. Everywhere else in the film Pearl acts like a murderous woman who would look for things where she drops them. That would be a difficult tendency to lose, since pretty much 99% of the population looks for things where they drop them, and a hardworking storyteller would use foreshadowing to support illogical choices made their characters. Lazy storytelling, that's what I really wanna call it.
So, I started watching this trilogy out of order… Pearl first. Blew me away. Amazing. I was in awe of Mia Goth’s performance. X was next, and I had high hopes. Well, it was very different; almost “dissapointingly” good/average. Pearl just set the bar far too high for me. Maxxxine is next, and unfortunately I’m not too excited, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be captured by someone’s performance; and that that will save much of the film for me. I just can’t praise Pearl enough. Beautifully twisted and emotionally arresting. Good review!
Dario d'argento vibes, this man made the best horror movies back in the days, Suspiria being my best deep red and the witch trilogy. If Maxxxine is anything like this its going to be a bang. I really love X it was unexpected, but for me Pearl was a bit too much, still Maxxxine looks interesting from the trailer a bit more suspense, and crime than horror
I saw this last night and dug it but I did not love it. What you said about Peral is EXACTLY how I felt and still feel. Pearl was just magical, and this, while decent, couldn't live up to that one's brilliance. Also, you nailed it with that Brian Depalma line.
Just saw this. It was sad to see it fail, I agree. It's amazing how West managed to hold his worst tendencies in check until the last 20 minutes: So much hype on the killer's identity only to learn the actor playing the killer hasn't spent one minute occupying the screen until the very end... High quality performances. Electric style. Interesting characters. Above average thematic exploration. Mediocre storytelling. 7/10
Depends on how you look at it... SPOILER: While I agree that the killer not being in act 1 or 2 of Maxxxine was a detriment to its act 3, especially for people new to the franchise, fact is that her father was peppered across X and most prominently at the end. In fact, him being setup at the end of X was the very thing that got me excited to see a followup - at the time, I was expecting either a prequel or a sequel to dive into how her religious upbringing must've been the very thing that pushed her away. The franchise's thematic exploration is precisely what had me waiting for Maxxxine to finally get done. My guess is that Ti West assumed that anyone watching Maxxxine would've remembered that tv footage in X dovetailing into the intro of Maxxxine and that that way enough. He didn't need more screentime necessarily, the dialogue just needed more clever subtextual referencing to his existence... The only thing that turned me somewhat off with him as the reveal is that it felt like a stretch that he would choose violence as a means of getting her to show up. Granted, real people do things for dumb reasons sometimes...but a better narrative foundation wouldn't made it makes sense that he thought that way, despite his logic being flawed. I didn't spend the movie focused on trying to figure out who the killer was - how Maxine as a character was dealing with (or trying to suppress) that reality was the bigger point.
@@chrisjfox8715Nah, that reveal was super flimsy, and the OP is right- the father needed more screen time, or at least some mention of his impact on Maxine’s life throughout the film in order for us to have some emotional attachment to these characters and their conflict. Without any buildup, we don’t care, and it seemed as if they couldn’t find a way for Maxine to care either. It’s just shoehorned in and feels like an 11th hour on-set script rewrite.
10 outta 10 …the 80s atmosphere was done to perfection. The homage to the VHS era of horror was masterful as well. The ending will divide people but it was inevitable. To complete the trilogy’s theme.
I’ve only seen X out of this trilogy and I found it so uncompelling and flat I actually have a hard time believing anyone thought a franchise might be a good idea.
The set-up in X was good with all those different conflicts going on between the crew. But then I guess Ti West said "fuck it" and it turned into a typical boring slasher with a hint of thematic depth about aging I suppose. I was so disappointed by that second half.
I really loved the movie. Not as good as Pearl, but it did stick the landing for me. That said, I was hoping to explore more of the connection between Pearl and Maxine. Even if they said she was the Grandmother, that would work for me. But I think the themes carried through and I was happy with it.
@@deepfocuslensWW2 would have made more sense imo given the influence of Technicolour movies on the production. It felt like the only reason to have it in 1918 was for Pearl and Howard to be in their 80s for X.
Really enjoy both X and Pearl, so am looking forward to seeing this. Based on this review it sounds uneven but entertaining, which is basically what I’ve gotten from the trailers
For me, Pearl is the crown jewel in many ways. I just finished MAXXXINE and I think I like it more than X although they are pretty different in terms of pace and tone. Admire X for its setting and laid back vibe but hate hate hate the adult video stuff. Can tolerate it in Maxxxine plus also love the retro summer (but also Halloween) vibe and leaning into the cheese.
"X" is a really good "horror" kind of movie. Great cinematography and acting. The story is very generic but it is made on purpose like this. Also, we have this Maxine and Pearl characters who weren't developed that much but you still can feel for them. I think it was again made on purpose. Still, it's like 7/10. (Jenna Ortega was amazing!) "Pearl" on the other hand, completely different genre, is a masterpiece. Mia Goth nails it. I mean, even if you abstract yourself from the one-shot monologue at the end, she is still Oscar worthy. What a script man! beautiful shooting. I gave it 10/10, maybe I am too emotional, but it is no less than 9/10. "MaXXXine"... Let's see.
Your comparison of X to TCM is pretty spot on but I liked it a lot bc I was expecting a C movie and it was definitely more like an B+. Pearl was the best of the trilogy by far. It was really good and made me fall in love with Mia Goth. Maxxxine just fell flat in the second half and was very predictable and kinda meh. They lacked a strong story & twists for her. Overall, still a fan of Mia and would love to see more from her and Ti West.
Pearl was the real gold from this franchise, X itself was just a fun slasher, an homage to the 70s slashers like texas chainsaw massacre but Pearl had its own layers and Mia's best performance to date, the female version of American psycho!
I saw Maxxxine yesterday. I agree with the De palma reference. I enjoyed the film. She is obviously is colder now. And I was happy with the ending. However you knew who the killer is was from the get go.
Stopped for a second when you acknowledged how much West referenced DePalma, every other review seems to have glossed over how much DePalma and in particular Body Double is referenced in this film, both aurally and visually(forgive my lateness to your review in Australia it only got released theatrically a couple of days ago... saw it twice this afternoon)
I was expecting a grand finally, felt quite underwhelmed, especially the end, I also felt the glamorising of the night stalker is not a route we need to go down!
Good review! Similar thoughts to me. Elizabeth is phenomenal, Kevin did great and so did the other side characters! I love the 80's references. I just wish we could have seen the Puritan 2 movie played and bits of it? I thoroughly love Mia Goth. MIA GOTH SUPREMACY. It was really well made. So so so so so so good. It was truly well made.
Just rewatched “X” after rewatching “Pearl” And it landed for me so much more emotionally. I was the same as you but with this rewatch I ended up thinking “X” is actually very melancholic and sad underneath. Did not really like “Maxxxine” Much at all. Needed more from those side characters but was horribly underwritten. Still looked great and the DePalma vibes were big but was absolutely let down with how the ending was handled. So frustratingly haphazard.
I felt this film was thematically lost. The plot structure didn’t make for a compelling film. It feels like the movie doesn’t know what it wants to say. It fails to be a satire and it fails to be taken literally. The voice of this film is either way underdeveloped or shallow. The third act feels so abrupt and forced, bringing in religious themes of cultism and such. What is this movie!? 😂 I love Mia goth & I love the style this film presents but those are very subjective statements. If I didn’t care for either of those, this film renders itself as a very hollow experience. Pearl was the opposite of hollow, delivering deep psychological commentary on longing, suffering, & relationship. I felt that maxxxine should have focused more on the family ties like you said. I felt she should have become a movie star in the second act and then realize how empty fame is, sort of concluding pearl’s obsession with fame & acknowledgment. Great review!
maxxxine was dull. uninteresting. predictable. very disappointing. had high hopes considering setting and time period. you’re right it is a depalma ripoff. a weak one.
I don’t get why people say X is TCM. I get stylistically it has that gritty cinematic approach, but content wise it doesn’t match at all. TCM had more shocks, cannibalism; an excess of shock horror really. X had a back story of aging and what that does to the psyche.
I love the B stylized style of the movie and its intention. The directing at the end imo went too off the plot for me.. Maxxine was just a silhouette in allot of the shots where the side characters shined. I did enjoy seeing what a badass Maxxxines portrayal was in the film I don’t think it was edited that great tho and the visuals/shots were too close up. It took away from the cinematic experience that Maxxxine could have been and made it LOOK like just a small slasher film. Loved the 80s style running scene.. but again it could have been shot allot better and edited in if the timing was right
There’s a bit of contradiction going on here. You say that you don’t like the way it was shot, but It was intended to look like an 80’s B movie, which, as you stated, you loved.
@@Diamond_tip But that _is_ the style; that _is_ the intention. You seem to be positing it as some sort of flaw on the filmmakers’ part, but it’s not. It’s the intended effect, which is cribbing from its influences in order to pay homage.
I thought Pearl was fantastic and X was solid but nothing particularly special. I agree about Ti West: there's a stretch between the set up and the climax of some of his movies where they sort of zombie along adding nothing much to themselves. I'm sure the idea is to build tension and atmosphere but he really stretches it thin. If he could restrain his serious artistic impulses by about 30% and sprinkle in a bit more fun he'd be amazing.
Can't wait to dive into this and Long Legs next week. I'm not expecting perfection - I just want to have a good time. The storyline for this is very compelling (serial killer going after starlets in the 80s). Personally X was not that exciting to me, but I loved Pearl. Hope this can rise to my top pick in the trilogy.
Great idea of a character with horrible execution when it was all said and done in this one. Enjoyed X. Pearl was an art film that I respect the hell out of and watch purely for the acting and dread, in a good way. Maxxxine just falls apart in the end. I almost wanted to roll my eyes by the end. It started so strong but every story beat just fails to make sense in the finale. I did love the “go home and do your lines” and the “whatever you have going on, crush it.” Absolutely hilarious in the writing department. The finale killed everything I enjoyed about it. Can’t believe RT is sitting at a 75%. Well I can actually lol
After watching it I think it’s so over the top at times on purpose. The mid-80’s were excessive and movies were over the top. Also a lot of people are complaining about some of the kills being off screen and tame. By the mid 80’s the MPAA started forcing horror movies to cut a lot out of the movies gore wise. So I’m guessing it was almost on purpose?
This was the most boring trash movie I've seen in a long long time. I was so excited for this. A gritty 80s horror, and trilogy conclusion. I loved the story for X, and I really loved Pearl in every regard. So the disappointment on my face by the end of the credits was palpable. I felt like nothing happened at all. No mystery, no character progression, no new message... Yikes. I saw it last night, and I'm still upset and in shock. This movie should have been at least a guilty pleasure for me. Lame.
But it's got Kevin Bacon and Giancarlo Esposito. Ti West paid a lot of attention to detail to recreate the 80s aesthetic complete with retro film grade. I think you'll enjoy it more if you lived thru the 80s as it's a homage to 80s slasher movies. IMO the first X is a masterpiece, a tribute to Texas chainsaw massacre. Pearl is a great character study of mental health decline similar to the Joker. Amazingly both those movies were shot on a budget of only a million bucks. This movie ranks last because of a mundane story. Ti West knows how to do retro movies and I'm hoping his next one will be a motel horror like Psycho or Norman Bates motel.
I wasn’t the biggest fan either. The story felt unfinished and ultimately rushed. So many unnecessary elements. Like flashbacks to X. That ultimately add nothing.
The final section of the film definitely suffers. I wish Ti West went with something a little more inventive. Apparently 15 mins of the film including a separate sun plot was taken out.
I must say I am surprised you liked Pearl. I re-watched it recently and….god. It’s soooo boring in some parts. And some creative decisions that irk me. Like her losing her clip of the picture while riding a bike. She goes SIDEWAYS into a cornfield (????) and gets lost in a cornfield. Seriously? Direction wise that’s a very silly scene. You aren’t going to go into a cornfield. You’re gonna look on the road. Yes I’m aware that’s nitpicky. But these types of details ultimately matter and it makes the viewer shift from being lost in the story to “wait, that wouldn’t happen.” And those moments, while seemingly not important, cause the viewer to lose footing in the realism of the movie. Her dress bursting into flames. Another unrealistic detail. I wanted more depth into her slowly testing her own limits into becoming a killer. When she squeezes her dad’s neck in the bathtub. I wanted that scene to last longer. I wanted her to test her own limits and bring him a little closer to death. I just wanted that scene to go on a little bit longer. To also build some tension.
Pearl is by far the best in this trilogy. Maxxxine is at least a little bit more fun than X but you're right about this climax. So over the top and just plain dumb. Pearl is the keeper. The other two I'll never watch again.
Oh brother. X didn’t need a prequel, nor a sequel to X’s sequel-prequel. Have you seen Memory? The End We Start From? Certainly better choices than an empty-calorie 80’s inspired slasher film.
This was flat out one of the worst movies of the year I have seen so far. Did like Pearl and X but this was on the level of a 1980s straight to video nonerotic thrillers. Just plain bad De Palma or a Cannon Film greenlit by Golan and Globus. Suprised by such a positive review.
![Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 | Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) [5] vs. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) [2] | F](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EIjZybhsWqA/mqdefault.jpg)
Ti West did an interview talking about a long, uninterrupted shot in Maxxxine, and right away I was thinking Brian De Palma. I'm fully on board for this one. To me, the whole X series seems like Ti West's celebration of filmmaking, and his condemnation of Hollywood.
Pearl was during WW1, FYI
The film style though is definitely WW2 or post WW2 1950s technicolor type film. If X was a 1970s film then Pearl is 1950s film while Maxxxine is a 1980s film. I think that is what she meant.
In Pearl, Pearl tried to break free by pursuing stardom but she didn't make it. She lashed out on everyone including her own family but she never really got out. She held on to this. Freedom meant getting picked to dance and leaving the farm.
In X, Pearl noticed this girl (Maxine) who is probably famous (through pornography) and she immediately gets attracted to her. But she tries to hold her prisoner. Maxine did panic in the movie and she tried to get free from Pearl. In this movie, Maxine cared little about being famous but she was rather trying to survive. Freedom meant becoming free from Pearl.
In MaxXxine, she tried to pursue stardom through horror movies but was already free in her mind. She wasn't scared of anything or anyone. Freedom meant being in horror movies and not escaping the Nightstalker or any killer out in the streets.
Freedom felt like a contagion which passed through these characters and, during its process, it evolved and mutated.
Pearl was WILD, I loved it, a horny Wizard of Oz. Really looking forward to this one.
she just meant it was really colourful. nothing at all like wizard of oz.
@@MicahMicahel there’s some good scarecrow work though.
I absolutely loved the 3/4 of the movie, the setup, the amazing realism of the 80s style, the context and the tension of a moment impacted by a famous serial killer. Mia Goth is perfect, one more time. My only complaint is the cliched 3rd act.
I'd totally say this is the most commercialized A24 film in a long time with frequent ads and I've seen billboards here in there. So the spotlight definitely was on it to being the next smash hit. Mia Goth is absolutely queen on what she's delivered in these films. So regardless of any flaws there's no doubt I'll love Maxxxine. Bit of a anti-hero & it's amazing to witness🥰❤️🔥
Watched Pearl again, Mia Goths monologue at the end is pretty epic. I enjoyed it more on rewatch
I enjoy the reviews of this channel more than the films themselves. Thank you.
I literally looked for your review of this an hour ago
The only review of Maxxxine that I will watch.
Preach.
Me too.
I just watched the Oscar Expert and they offered nothing but this film is meh. I'm like this review gives me NOTHING
Agreed
Ya know...ditto.
Thank you Maggie, love your honest and fair review style.
Definitely got De Palma vibes with this too, especially with the split-screen sequences. I enjoyed this film too but was slightly disappointed by the conclusion. Great review, thank you!
This movie was almost all eyeroll for me, from the first shot to the credits. The whole trilogy feels like they didn't really have enough ideas to fill 3 movies and are just making style over substance movies that are ultimately pointless in the end
For some reason I remember you had issues with Pearl. Perhaps you saw it again and came around. It's a masterpiece that went under the radar. It will rise in stature down the line.
She did...she just kept saying "she wanted more of this...more of that....etc". I just don't understand sometimes. Its an hour and a half to 2 hour film. What MORE do you want in a nearly flawless film like Pearl? I get the sentiment as a huge film buff, but Ive never seen this girl ever be satisfied with a film during her reviews. Its ALWAYS in hindsight (many times years later) where she will speak highly of said film(s)...
I do like her style of reviews, but at times its just pretentious.
@@iskywalking420 she never likes anything and when she does im not even sure she actually likes it, maybe she should make a film because it is starting to look like frustration. i unfollowed her , it's giving 2010 coffee shop hipster vibes
@@disierra-amado5596 lmao😂😭
@@iskywalking420 There is like nothing pretentious about this channel lol.
I think the “skeleton key” for interpreting Maxxxine’s place in the trilogy is to appreciate it as an ambivalent tragedy of success (Maxine basically gets what she wants, but at what cost to her soul/character?) in contrast with Pearl’s unambiguous tragedy of failure. In both cases, it’s rural-coded traditionalism that threatens to hold the heroine back while (possibly meretricious) urban-coded modernity offers the promise of success and escape. Pearl is a more immediately powerful film because its tragedy of failure delivers an immediate emotional gut-punch, while Maxine leaves a vague feeling of disquiet. Nevertheless, despite initially mixed reactions, I think Maxxxine may end up becoming the hipster-coded dark horse favorite of the trilogy in years to come, similar to Son of Frankenstein or Day of the Dead.
I sincerely appreciate and respect your opinion on this Maggie. I liked X, loved Pearl, and was underwhelmed with Maxxxine. I just felt there wasn’t much thematic/emotional weight in it as there was in the first 2 films. Also, I guessed who the main villain would be in the first 30 seconds of the film. It was sadly pretty predictable.
This one felt like it was constantly reminding me of better films that I would so much rather be watching. So disappointed that so many good performances by the side characters (especially Giancarlo finally moving on from Gus Fring) were wasted. The “twist” also falls so flat as it was pretty obvious but was also not developed at all
it was obvious from the beginning with that homemade video 😂
@@ajewishchristianmuslimI didn't see it coming tbh, largely because I wasn't at all focused on trying to figure out who the killer was. The who was irrelevant to me - what mattered is how Maxine as a character was suppressing/dealing with the reality of it.
I agree the reveal fell flat but I'd say that has more to do with the limited character/thematic exploration of the killer's relationship to her. It still doesn't quite "make sense" that he would choose that level of violence as a means to his ends.
First video of yours I’ve seen. I had the exact same response to this movie but didn’t know how to articulate it. Spot on 👌 I’ll keep watching
I enjoyed the first half enough. I felt like the second half completely fell apart.
Without Mia Goth I think the film would have been empty
Honesty is your best quality as a reviewer
Just finished it. Pearl may have raised my expectations unreasonably high but I still have to say that (despite the rather flimsy third act) I found this to be quite a satisfying conclusion to what I believe will be looked back at as a classic horror trilogy, which produced a true masterpiece in Pearl and a real treat for horror fans general.
Brian DePalma "borrowed" from Argento throughout his career. It was definitely an homage to Argentos Giallo films of the 80's.
He borrowed from Alfred Hitchcock.
Both
@christiancoursol7825 No, he did not. Giallo (especially of Argentos variety) is far removed from the influence of Alfred Hitchcock.
@@brannonwestbrook8339bro you ever watch a de palma film? He basically homaged and remade heavy aspects of psycho with dresses to kill and body double is rear window/vertigo and sisters if i recall is heavily hitchcock influenced. He’s literally said from his own words “it all started with hitchcock”. You’re too busy being a pedantic film bro about giallos that you miss the obvious. He was influenced by both heavily.
Love your vids. Among other things, appreciate the Watchmen and McKee books on your inverted shelves.
I don't think I've ever seen you so disappointed. I want to like Maxxxine too. For me, Pearl has more spirit than anything else. There are scenes in it that could have been powerful if the film's structure were stronger. Ti West has problems with continuity. His characters make choices that aren't consistent with their reality. For example, Pearl losing the piece of celluloid out of her pocket is clever, but her choice to veer off from the road and barrel into the cornfield while searching for the film lacks credibility. If I drop something, I look for it near where I lost it, not twenty yards off in a random direction. Simply put, Ti West cheats when he tells stories and it cheapens his movies.
Mia Goth is supercool though.
that was one of my favourite scenes because it showed how truly unhinged she is. Not in touch with reality at alllll
Perhaps it is deliberate because it is an '80's slasher the way X is a '70's folk horror.
It was probably my favorite scene of the movie, but the structure doesn't lay the logical framework for this illogical behavior. Everywhere else in the film Pearl acts like a murderous woman who would look for things where she drops them. That would be a difficult tendency to lose, since pretty much 99% of the population looks for things where they drop them, and a hardworking storyteller would use foreshadowing to support illogical choices made their characters.
Lazy storytelling, that's what I really wanna call it.
So, I started watching this trilogy out of order… Pearl first. Blew me away. Amazing. I was in awe of Mia Goth’s performance. X was next, and I had high hopes. Well, it was very different; almost “dissapointingly” good/average. Pearl just set the bar far too high for me. Maxxxine is next, and unfortunately I’m not too excited, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be captured by someone’s performance; and that that will save much of the film for me. I just can’t praise Pearl enough. Beautifully twisted and emotionally arresting. Good review!
Dario d'argento vibes, this man made the best horror movies back in the days, Suspiria being my best deep red and the witch trilogy. If Maxxxine is anything like this its going to be a bang.
I really love X it was unexpected, but for me Pearl was a bit too much, still Maxxxine looks interesting from the trailer a bit more suspense, and crime than horror
Maxxxine was mid, nothing interesting comparing it with 'X' and 'Pearl'.
I saw this last night and dug it but I did not love it. What you said about Peral is EXACTLY how I felt and still feel. Pearl was just magical, and this, while decent, couldn't live up to that one's brilliance. Also, you nailed it with that Brian Depalma line.
Just saw this. It was sad to see it fail, I agree. It's amazing how West managed to hold his worst tendencies in check until the last 20 minutes: So much hype on the killer's identity only to learn the actor playing the killer hasn't spent one minute occupying the screen until the very end...
High quality performances. Electric style. Interesting characters. Above average thematic exploration. Mediocre storytelling.
7/10
Depends on how you look at it...
SPOILER:
While I agree that the killer not being in act 1 or 2 of Maxxxine was a detriment to its act 3, especially for people new to the franchise, fact is that her father was peppered across X and most prominently at the end. In fact, him being setup at the end of X was the very thing that got me excited to see a followup - at the time, I was expecting either a prequel or a sequel to dive into how her religious upbringing must've been the very thing that pushed her away. The franchise's thematic exploration is precisely what had me waiting for Maxxxine to finally get done. My guess is that Ti West assumed that anyone watching Maxxxine would've remembered that tv footage in X dovetailing into the intro of Maxxxine and that that way enough. He didn't need more screentime necessarily, the dialogue just needed more clever subtextual referencing to his existence...
The only thing that turned me somewhat off with him as the reveal is that it felt like a stretch that he would choose violence as a means of getting her to show up. Granted, real people do things for dumb reasons sometimes...but a better narrative foundation wouldn't made it makes sense that he thought that way, despite his logic being flawed. I didn't spend the movie focused on trying to figure out who the killer was - how Maxine as a character was dealing with (or trying to suppress) that reality was the bigger point.
@@chrisjfox8715Nah, that reveal was super flimsy, and the OP is right- the father needed more screen time, or at least some mention of his impact on Maxine’s life throughout the film in order for us to have some emotional attachment to these characters and their conflict. Without any buildup, we don’t care, and it seemed as if they couldn’t find a way for Maxine to care either. It’s just shoehorned in and feels like an 11th hour on-set script rewrite.
10 outta 10 …the 80s atmosphere was done to perfection. The homage to the VHS era of horror was masterful as well. The ending will divide people but it was inevitable. To complete the trilogy’s theme.
I agree i saw this last Friday during a 5:00ish showing. Go in, watch it, and go about your day. Do not make it the culmination of your day.
I’ve only seen X out of this trilogy and I found it so uncompelling and flat I actually have a hard time believing anyone thought a franchise might be a good idea.
big same
X is the worst of the trilogy. I didn't care for it either. Pearl was fantastic. Maxxxine is better than X but some incredibly stupid sequences.
The set-up in X was good with all those different conflicts going on between the crew. But then I guess Ti West said "fuck it" and it turned into a typical boring slasher with a hint of thematic depth about aging I suppose. I was so disappointed by that second half.
X is decent; Pearl is extremely overrated.
Thought I was the only want. i really don't know what Kool Aid people are drinking, X was a terrible movie. I literally yelled F*ck You at the screen.
I really loved the movie. Not as good as Pearl, but it did stick the landing for me. That said, I was hoping to explore more of the connection between Pearl and Maxine. Even if they said she was the Grandmother, that would work for me. But I think the themes carried through and I was happy with it.
Pearl wasn't set in world war 2. It was set in 1918. World war 2 was 1939 - 1945.
Yeah, my bad. I guess I was thinking more about the pop culture influence when I said that.
@@deepfocuslensWW2 would have made more sense imo given the influence of Technicolour movies on the production. It felt like the only reason to have it in 1918 was for Pearl and Howard to be in their 80s for X.
Really enjoy both X and Pearl, so am looking forward to seeing this. Based on this review it sounds uneven but entertaining, which is basically what I’ve gotten from the trailers
I loved the first two acts 🤷♂
Best Maxxxine review & best movie reviewer on youtube!! tho we did share similar thoughts!
Goth is awesome in the flick and I'm excited to see where her career goes next.
For me, Pearl is the crown jewel in many ways. I just finished MAXXXINE and I think I like it more than X although they are pretty different in terms of pace and tone. Admire X for its setting and laid back vibe but hate hate hate the adult video stuff. Can tolerate it in Maxxxine plus also love the retro summer (but also Halloween) vibe and leaning into the cheese.
Your takes are always refreshing, well thought of.. compared to the rest of the famous reviewers at least
"X" is a really good "horror" kind of movie. Great cinematography and acting. The story is very generic but it is made on purpose like this. Also, we have this Maxine and Pearl characters who weren't developed that much but you still can feel for them. I think it was again made on purpose. Still, it's like 7/10. (Jenna Ortega was amazing!)
"Pearl" on the other hand, completely different genre, is a masterpiece. Mia Goth nails it. I mean, even if you abstract yourself from the one-shot monologue at the end, she is still Oscar worthy. What a script man! beautiful shooting. I gave it 10/10, maybe I am too emotional, but it is no less than 9/10.
"MaXXXine"... Let's see.
“Mia Goth has primal energy” is spot on! I was underwhelmed by Maxxxine, mostly because she wasn’t given much to work with as the title character.
Your comparison of X to TCM is pretty spot on but I liked it a lot bc I was expecting a C movie and it was definitely more like an B+. Pearl was the best of the trilogy by far. It was really good and made me fall in love with Mia Goth. Maxxxine just fell flat in the second half and was very predictable and kinda meh. They lacked a strong story & twists for her. Overall, still a fan of Mia and would love to see more from her and Ti West.
best movie reviewer on yt man
I saw it last night, it was enjoyable enough, growing up in the 80s it seemed very authentic, very stylish, but yes, Pearl is the best of the three.
That’s exactly what I did: disappeared in a theater on a 98 degree day. Nothing spectacular but kept me entertained and cooled off.
Pearl was the real gold from this franchise, X itself was just a fun slasher, an homage to the 70s slashers like texas chainsaw massacre but Pearl had its own layers and Mia's best performance to date, the female version of American psycho!
I saw Maxxxine yesterday. I agree with the De palma reference. I enjoyed the film. She is obviously is colder now. And I was happy with the ending. However you knew who the killer is was from the get go.
Stopped for a second when you acknowledged how much West referenced DePalma, every other review seems to have glossed over how much DePalma and in particular Body Double is referenced in this film, both aurally and visually(forgive my lateness to your review in Australia it only got released theatrically a couple of days ago... saw it twice this afternoon)
I was expecting a grand finally, felt quite underwhelmed, especially the end, I also felt the glamorising of the night stalker is not a route we need to go down!
Good review! Similar thoughts to me. Elizabeth is phenomenal, Kevin did great and so did the other side characters! I love the 80's references. I just wish we could have seen the Puritan 2 movie played and bits of it? I thoroughly love Mia Goth. MIA GOTH SUPREMACY. It was really well made. So so so so so so good. It was truly well made.
"There are climaxes in this movie".....Indeed
Just rewatched “X” after rewatching “Pearl” And it landed for me so much more emotionally. I was the same as you but with this rewatch I ended up thinking “X” is actually very melancholic and sad underneath. Did not really like “Maxxxine” Much at all. Needed more from those side characters but was horribly underwritten. Still looked great and the DePalma vibes were big but was absolutely let down with how the ending was handled. So frustratingly haphazard.
This arc of movies is a really fascinating and it the reason why indies are doing so well.
I like the term Cinematic Perfume to describe a film that is only technically good.
I felt this film was thematically lost. The plot structure didn’t make for a compelling film. It feels like the movie doesn’t know what it wants to say. It fails to be a satire and it fails to be taken literally. The voice of this film is either way underdeveloped or shallow. The third act feels so abrupt and forced, bringing in religious themes of cultism and such. What is this movie!? 😂 I love Mia goth & I love the style this film presents but those are very subjective statements. If I didn’t care for either of those, this film renders itself as a very hollow experience. Pearl was the opposite of hollow, delivering deep psychological commentary on longing, suffering, & relationship. I felt that maxxxine should have focused more on the family ties like you said. I felt she should have become a movie star in the second act and then realize how empty fame is, sort of concluding pearl’s obsession with fame & acknowledgment. Great review!
you're totally right! something's missing here.
Thank you for your review! Looking forward to seeing this one on the weekend.
Great review. I loved the film tbf. I wished you loved Rogue One though 😂
Super articulate and precise! I agree with X also!
Thanks for this review. I have seen a lot of hate and was hoping for more. It sounds like its still worth the watch, so I will give it a go.
Well done and articulate review. Thx.
I am seeing it on Friday. My guess is that it will settle in between Pearl and X for me. I am definitely excited to see it .
maxxxine was dull. uninteresting. predictable. very disappointing. had high hopes considering setting and time period. you’re right it is a depalma ripoff. a weak
one.
I don’t get why people say X is TCM. I get stylistically it has that gritty cinematic approach, but content wise it doesn’t match at all. TCM had more shocks, cannibalism; an excess of shock horror really. X had a back story of aging and what that does to the psyche.
I love the B stylized style of the movie and its intention. The directing at the end imo went too off the plot for me.. Maxxine was just a silhouette in allot of the shots where the side characters shined. I did enjoy seeing what a badass Maxxxines portrayal was in the film I don’t think it was edited that great tho and the visuals/shots were too close up. It took away from the cinematic experience that Maxxxine could have been and made it LOOK like just a small slasher film. Loved the 80s style running scene.. but again it could have been shot allot better and edited in if the timing was right
There’s a bit of contradiction going on here. You say that you don’t like the way it was shot, but It was intended to look like an 80’s B movie, which, as you stated, you loved.
@@eyespy3001 yea I meant the actual shots of the scenes were too up close.. am I allowed to say that?
@@Diamond_tip But that _is_ the style; that _is_ the intention. You seem to be positing it as some sort of flaw on the filmmakers’ part, but it’s not. It’s the intended effect, which is cribbing from its influences in order to pay homage.
I thought Pearl was fantastic and X was solid but nothing particularly special. I agree about Ti West: there's a stretch between the set up and the climax of some of his movies where they sort of zombie along adding nothing much to themselves. I'm sure the idea is to build tension and atmosphere but he really stretches it thin. If he could restrain his serious artistic impulses by about 30% and sprinkle in a bit more fun he'd be amazing.
Something that would have made Maxxxine great? If she repeated Pearl's One-take confession of all her crimes during the opening audition.
Saw the first two . Didn't know that it was a trilogy. Guess i have to watch this one as well
Can't wait to dive into this and Long Legs next week. I'm not expecting perfection - I just want to have a good time. The storyline for this is very compelling (serial killer going after starlets in the 80s). Personally X was not that exciting to me, but I loved Pearl. Hope this can rise to my top pick in the trilogy.
Agreed, that’s why after X Pearl was such a pleasant surprise. Prequels hardly ever are great, let alone better than the first movie but Pearl is 🍻
Great idea of a character with horrible execution when it was all said and done in this one. Enjoyed X. Pearl was an art film that I respect the hell out of and watch purely for the acting and dread, in a good way. Maxxxine just falls apart in the end. I almost wanted to roll my eyes by the end. It started so strong but every story beat just fails to make sense in the finale. I did love the “go home and do your lines” and the “whatever you have going on, crush it.” Absolutely hilarious in the writing department. The finale killed everything I enjoyed about it. Can’t believe RT is sitting at a 75%. Well I can actually lol
After watching it I think it’s so over the top at times on purpose. The mid-80’s were excessive and movies were over the top. Also a lot of people are complaining about some of the kills being off screen and tame. By the mid 80’s the MPAA started forcing horror movies to cut a lot out of the movies gore wise. So I’m guessing it was almost on purpose?
They made the movie suck on purpose in order to emulate what they’re criticizing is certainly a take
Have only seen 'Pearl' so far. Very much liked it. Look forward to seeing the other two.
Bits of the trailer remond me of the beginning of 'the howling ' for some reason
My issue is that it’s just so hard to be terrified of a pretty girl.
Great review of this sequel
How come you see movies like a week before me. Lol
I wanna know this too!
Most likely some type of connections due to her channel..."critics" get to view first.
Pearl was incredible. 9/10
This was the most boring trash movie I've seen in a long long time. I was so excited for this. A gritty 80s horror, and trilogy conclusion. I loved the story for X, and I really loved Pearl in every regard. So the disappointment on my face by the end of the credits was palpable. I felt like nothing happened at all. No mystery, no character progression, no new message... Yikes. I saw it last night, and I'm still upset and in shock. This movie should have been at least a guilty pleasure for me. Lame.
Best take!!! I agree 100% why would they let a movie premiere like that. It was so empty…..and I sat through don’t worry darling.
@@kieshaholt2600Don’t Worry Darling made me cringe
But it's got Kevin Bacon and Giancarlo Esposito. Ti West paid a lot of attention to detail to recreate the 80s aesthetic complete with retro film grade. I think you'll enjoy it more if you lived thru the 80s as it's a homage to 80s slasher movies. IMO the first X is a masterpiece, a tribute to Texas chainsaw massacre. Pearl is a great character study of mental health decline similar to the Joker. Amazingly both those movies were shot on a budget of only a million bucks. This movie ranks last because of a mundane story. Ti West knows how to do retro movies and I'm hoping his next one will be a motel horror like Psycho or Norman Bates motel.
I wasn’t the biggest fan either. The story felt unfinished and ultimately rushed. So many unnecessary elements. Like flashbacks to X. That ultimately add nothing.
Pearl is WW1. And the difference is VERY important.
From everything that I've heard, this movie seems to owe quite a bit to Russell's Crimes of Passion.
underrated or forgotten movie now.
The final section of the film definitely suffers. I wish Ti West went with something a little more inventive. Apparently 15 mins of the film including a separate sun plot was taken out.
im gonna see it regardless but i feel like youve got a really interesting perspective to review this from.
also 'Maxxxine's Existential Funhouse' sounds like one of her more arty, 'european' adult films haha
What happened to the guy in the alley, all the spoiler’s show just the beginning?
😳
I was so disappointed with this movie. Completely agree with your review.
This was amazing and that’s the only take I accept. Strong 4/5 for me
Thanks for posting your review
I must say I am surprised you liked Pearl. I re-watched it recently and….god. It’s soooo boring in some parts. And some creative decisions that irk me. Like her losing her clip of the picture while riding a bike. She goes SIDEWAYS into a cornfield (????) and gets lost in a cornfield. Seriously? Direction wise that’s a very silly scene. You aren’t going to go into a cornfield. You’re gonna look on the road. Yes I’m aware that’s nitpicky. But these types of details ultimately matter and it makes the viewer shift from being lost in the story to “wait, that wouldn’t happen.” And those moments, while seemingly not important, cause the viewer to lose footing in the realism of the movie.
Her dress bursting into flames. Another unrealistic detail.
I wanted more depth into her slowly testing her own limits into becoming a killer. When she squeezes her dad’s neck in the bathtub. I wanted that scene to last longer. I wanted her to test her own limits and bring him a little closer to death. I just wanted that scene to go on a little bit longer. To also build some tension.
Pearl is by far the best in this trilogy. Maxxxine is at least a little bit more fun than X but you're right about this climax. So over the top and just plain dumb. Pearl is the keeper. The other two I'll never watch again.
Maxxxine was disappointingly softcore.
Will you be reviewing Horizon?
I’m curious as well.
I agree with everything you said 100 percent
Pearl gives me Carrie and Wizard of OZ vibes
when she walked down the stairs in her moms red dress, Carrie popped into my head. The similarities were interesting.
Style over substance, lazy writing, shallow side characters, money grab. That's all there is to it.
great review
This one felt flat to me like is was building to something epic but the 3rd act fell massively short
Oh brother. X didn’t need a prequel, nor a sequel to X’s sequel-prequel.
Have you seen Memory? The End We Start From? Certainly better choices than an empty-calorie 80’s inspired slasher film.
My thoughts exactly
I agree, it was more collage than storytelling. I DID have fun though and that counts for alot. Yeah. Change that ending and I'm good. I give it a B-.
Completely agree. Very well said
This was flat out one of the worst movies of the year I have seen so far. Did like Pearl and X but this was on the level of a 1980s straight to video nonerotic thrillers. Just plain bad De Palma or a Cannon Film greenlit by Golan and Globus. Suprised by such a positive review.
Pearl was amazing, if this one is more like X I doubt I will enjoy it that much
Very excited for this one I enjoyed the other two movies a lot. Great review