The trilogy of X, Pearl and Maxxxine by Ti West was made under the A24 studio.
X (2022) – The perfect genre setup
X came out in 2022 to mainly good reviews. It follows a group of well developed characters who are renting a cabin to shoot commercial porn in the 70s.
Besides the obvious taboo around it, they explore the themes of aging, hopes, and envy
It’s a bit of « through the looking glass » analogy as well, with blood.
The old couple, who own the house on the cabin’s land, are Pearl and Howard.
While Howard is mainly easily forgotten, Pearl is played to perfection by Mia Goth (Frankenstein), who also plays Maxine.
I can’t even imagine the hours spent in the makeup chair on this one.
The cast also includes Kid Cudi (Silent Night, Trap), Brittany Snow (from the Prom night remake) and the every-horror movie actress Jenna Ortega (I’m not going to name them, she is in almost every single new one out there currently).
The plot is understandable (with the horror premise of course), the deaths are fun, and it sets up the rest nicely.
X is the perfect way to start the trilogy, as it lays out Pearl’s personnality and demise. Making her interesting enough to want to watch her prequel, and focusing on Maxine enough to want to see what happened after the massacre of her friends was a brilliant idea.
Pearl (2022) – The masterpiece
Pearl came out in 2022 as well and takes place in rural usa, 1918.
The reviews for this entry are even better than the previous one, and I concur.
I’m going to sound mean, but the rest of the cast is a bit irrelevant here, as Goth shines as Pearl.
There is something unnervingly wrong with her, and I love it. She is a perfect little psychopath.
Everything explains her reaction in X.
She hoped for a better life for herself for the longest time, and jealousy took over in its nastiest form.
When she was faced with what she deemed should be her life, it was too much.
And here we discover just how short her temper has always been. She has always been insane.
Her only lifeline to an ounce of sanity was Howard. From the musical, to the ending credit, Pearl is our killer queen.
It’s my favorite one of the trilogy. No notes.
I would even give up the bats and rate it in scarecrows if needed.
MaXXXine (2024) – A mixed conclusion
Maxxxine closed the trilogy in 2024, with more nuanced reviews.
Here we follow Maxine after the events of X, and her rise to C-list levels of fame, reached thanks to her porn career.
The cast is packed. From Kevin Bacon (Hollowman) to Giancarlo Esposito (Abigail, Breaking Bad, Community), Lily Collins (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile) and even Sophie Tatcher (Companion), so the overall acting is solid.
The death of Kevin Bacon‘s sleazy character is perfect. It’s what saved the movie for me as the rest didn’t really work.
It feels like too much, and not enough at the same time.
The killings, the stalking, the cult, the cops, I don’t know. I didn’t think the trilogy would end up being a fucked up episode of Mindhunter, but they went the procedural/slasher route with this one.
And also while being a tourism sponsor for the Los Angeles area, I guess ?
Don’t get me wrong, I do get that fame was the main plot of it all along, but it’s a bit on the nose.
I didn’t need to get beaten over the head with it, you know ?
The Hollywood Blvd , the Universal Studios with the Bates house from Psycho, and the entire ending takes place in the hills, right under the Hollywood sign ? Please.
And it’s so… lackluster. We miss the most interesting part, and then the credits roll.
It’s sad that the trilogy ended on a low note, but it’s often the case isn’t it ?
Oh well, we can’t have winners all the time.
I guess we can count Maxine Minx as the new-age final girl now, because despite some flaws, she did kick some ass.
I can see her becoming a feminist icon and the triology becoming a cult classic in the near future.
My rating for the overall trilogy : 3/5 bats
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