A24 has given Ti West’s “MaXXXine,” a whodunnit slasher, starring Mia Goth, a July 5, 2024 release date. So, we’ll be seeing it during the thick of the summer movie season. This also means it won’t premiere at Venice. There’s still a possibility for Cannes, but who knows.
The film test screened last December — the big lede for me was that “MaXXXine” is supposedly an homage to Dario Argento and the “Giallo” genre.
Goth is back to cap off the trilogy, which started with “X” and then “Pearl.” The film is said to take place in 1985, five years after “X,” as Goth’s “heroine” sets out in Hollywood to find fame. She gets a role in a cheapie horror sequel. Lily Collins is Maxine’s co-star. Elizabeth Debicki plays the director of the film. Giancarlo Esposito is Maxine’s shady agent.
L.A. is being terrorized by the “night stalker” who, for some reason, is eager to meet Maxine. Bobby Canavale and Michelle Monaghan are the detectives working the case. A scene-stealing Kevin Bacon is the corrupt private investigator hired by an anonymous person to find Maxine.
MaXXXine,” which wrapped production in May 2023, is filled with “over the top gore” and kicks off its story to the sounds of ZZ Top’s “Give Me All Your Lovin’.” Apparently, there are also scenes that take place in Psycho’s famous Bates Motel (via Critical Overlord).
In a recent interview with WhatsUndertheBedwithDax, West confirmed that he’s almost done editing “MaXXXine” (“it’s coming along — so far, so good”) and said he had an idea for a fourth film in the franchise, although he remained mum about the details.
We can theorize what this fourth film might be — could it follow Pearl (Mia Goth) after the events of 2022’s “Pearl”? There is an untackled amount of time in between the events of “Pearl” in 1918, and “X” in the 1970s. I certainly want more “Pearl” than “X,” it was the better films of the two.