Look out, Hollywood! Maxine Minx has come to town to be a star, and heaven help those who get in her way. Including, presumably, a mysterious killer who has designs on her.
A24 has finally dropped the trailer for Maxxxine, the final nail in the proverbial coffin of its hit and acclaimed X horror trilogy from filmmaker Ti West.
The previous two installments, X and its prequel Pearl, proved to be a tour de force showcase for star Mia Goth when they were released back to back in 2022 and re-established West as a busy filmmaker in the horror community.
Maxxxine, written and directed by West, is set about six years after the events of X and focuses on the lone survivor of that bloody night, aspiring starlet Maxine, played by Goth. Now in grungy mid-1980s Hollywood, Maxine is now Maxine Minx, a full-fledged porn star (and wearing the mileage, by the looks of it in the trailer) whose dreams of being a true actress are within reach.
As the trailer shows, Minx is auditioning for her break even as a mysterious killer known as The Night Stalker is murdering women in Hollywood. “I can handle myself,” Minx says, and we know she can, but can even she handle this trail of blood that threatens to reveal her sinister past?
“The past ain’t finished with you. It’s going to be knocking on your door,” says a private detective played by Kevin Bacon.
The viewer is treated to a full 1980s experience – slick streets with steam coming out heating vents, neon lit nights – combined with Hollywood touches like Hollywood backlots and sound stages.
We also get glimpses of Haley as Minx’s streetwalking friend, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale as a pair of detectives, Elizabeth Debicki as either a producer or director, plus appearances by Moses Sumney, Lily Collins, and Giancarlo Esposito, all as the trailer crescendos to a string of “Maxine” utterances and scenes of violence and carnage.
A24 is releasing the movie July 5. It is rated R and will have a running time of 103 minutes. West produced it along with Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Harrison Kreiss, and Goth.
“You’re a fuckin’ movie star,” Minx says to herself in the trailer. We already know it’s true about Goth, now we get to see if it’s true about Maxine.
