WLR #11
Maxxxine
Directed by Ti West
When a filmmaker delivers something as brilliant as Pearl—a stroke of technicolor genius that collides The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and Psycho into a symphony of batshit crazy madness for a modern audience—they’ve earned a lot of leeway for whatever comes next. Pearl didn’t just push the boundaries of psychological horror; it redefined them. It was a love letter to a vanished cinematic era, one that used the comfort of nostalgia to mask the fact it was going to stab you with a garden tool. Bright, candy-colored visuals dripped with unease, turning cheerfulness into terror. Beautiful faces became masks for monsters. And at the center of it all, Mia Goth gave a performance so unhinged, so electric, that it was impossible to look away. Her eight-minute monologue, delivered in one continuous shot, belongs in the Hall of Fame of great screen monologues—raw, fearless, and unforgettable. Simply put, Pearl is a perfect film.
Maxxxine, the follow-up, is less a sequel, more a companion piece—and it’s a good and bad at the same time. Where Pearl hypnotized me with its bold choices and unreliable psyche, Maxxxine seems to trade those qualities, those Oz colored hues for Hollywood glitz and glam. The film leans hard into the 1980s, packing in explosions, cars, and cocaine-fueled excess, but what it gains in scale it loses in intimacy. The narrative is bigger, louder, and more ordinary, less interested in the depths of its protagonist’s mind. Much more surface level thrills here.
Mia Goth again saves all sins with her performance, the film’s gravitational center. It’s her show, again, and she kills it at every turn. Even as the plot grows thinner and the script settles for clichés, Goth keeps the whole thing from spinning off the rails. She takes what could have been the weakest entry in the series and elevates it through sheer force of will. Her Maxine is a fascinating evolution of the character, now fully embracing the ruthless ambition that flickered beneath the surface in X.
The villain — played by Simon Prast in his first role outside of television —is the weakest spot in the film, an antagonist laughably ineffectual. Prast flounders under the weight of a script that asks too much of him, and acting alongside Goth, his performance looks terribly pedestrian. The climax, which should land with a shocking punch, comes off as awkward and too clever for it’s own good, and it’s made worse by his obvious lack of screen presence.
All in all, there’s plenty here for fans of the first two films to enjoy. Maxxxine delivers a slick, stylish movie with a few good moments and a few good scares. It lacks the magic that made Pearl generational. But Pearl was lightning in a bottle—the kind of movie where all the stars align. Maxxxine never quite achieves that level of transcendence, but that’s cool. It’s a solid entry in a series that continues to explore the intersections of horror, obsession, and ambition, with Mia Goth being one of the very best actresses working today.
Three stars
Kill
Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
They sure do a lot of killing. Look. I’m the wrong Wendy Lee to ask about these break your neck action films. To me, it’s either the Raid or it’s not. It’s either Oldboy or it’s not. Train to Busan or bust, you feel me? I simply don’t enjoy them enough to watch ones that aren’t undeniable classics. The Raid i just pretended was like a murderous ballet. I just couldn’t do that here. So, in a way, I feel out of place in even ratings this….
I abstain!
