MaXXXine is a pulpy Hollywood tale that seems too tame

There was a moment while I was watching Ti Wests latest movie, MaXXXinethat I thought I understood. Not the plot or the big twists, mind you, but simply what the movie was trying to say about fame, hollywood and these characters. But just as this happened, things took a much simpler and wiser turn than I had imagined. Which, I soon realized, was MaXXXine in a word. It is a film full of ideas and potential it seems oddly constrained.

Taking place after the events of West's previous two films, X And pearl (which you don't need to see for this, although it can't hurt), MaXXXine Mia Goth stars as the title character, a young adult film star who has moved to Hollywood to conquer the mainstream. Maxine is a confident and capable woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her dreams and, after booking her first major film, she is closer than ever to achieving it. However, as we saw in X (and here intermittently), Maxine must confront a violent, frightening and traumatic past. A past that comes back to haunt her and becomes her final obstacle on the path to fame and success.

All of this is possible because of Mia Goth. Goth is the undeniable, captivating, and charismatic star that Maxine is and aspires to be. You can almost not tell the difference between the two because Goth has such a clear and complete understanding of her character. Therefore, even when she is on screen – and she is in practically every scene – you just want to see more of her, and that's a good thing. She is by far the best thing about the movie.

Starting there and going down the line, MaXXXine is actually a giant Hollywood time capsule. Set in the smoke-filled, neon-lit year of 1985, the camera angles, production design, costumes and more scream 80 years. It's also filled with nods to films from that decade and earlier. Some are obvious, like an homage to St. Elmos Fire or Kevin Bacon Chinese district look, and others are more subtle, like the one that I believe comes from Back to the futurebut maybe that wasn't the case.

All of this makes the simple experience of spending time in MaXXXineWest's world is enjoyable. And when you add such a dynamic character to it, it's even better. The problem is that West's story relies too much on that. Everything is whimsical and cool, but the actual plot points and development are scattered instead of directly placed. Maxine lands her starring role in the middle of the reign of terror of the Night Stalker, a real-life serial killer of the time. Plus, other murders occur that seem connected to Maxine herself. How does it all fit together? Is the Night Stalker behind all of this? The film takes its time to unravel everything.

Once things start to fall into place, the path seems clear. Maxine must confront her past in order to secure her future. And that’s usually what happens. But in this seedy, creepy period setting, West’s execution is all too predictable and surprisingly gentle. While there are a handful of fast, loud, and violent moments, they’re overshadowed by Maxine’s much more rational and normal behavior than the film leads us to believe. We’re introduced to this driven, resourceful woman, but there’s a huge disconnect between that and the actions she takes as the film begins to wind down.

As a result, while West seems set to anchor his message on the price of fame and celebrity, he gets lost in his attempts to pull the story's threads together. Narratively, everything fits together, but it all makes a lot of sense. Nothing about the direction the story takes feels out of place in a fun, unique way, and we enjoy the setting and mood more than the themes and story.

Now, that's probably not what happened, but the general mood with MaXXXine Perhaps it's because this is a wide-release, borderline mainstream summer movie that West dials things down a few notches to appeal to the masses. With a few exceptions, the movie always seems to hold itself back. Almost as if it's the edited TV version of a much crazier movie. And this version is okay, but it never lives up to the promise or potential of everything around it.

The same could be said for the film's supporting cast, which is incredibly impressive. It features Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and more. There are murders, and each actor absolutely elevates the film in their own way. Unfortunately, they're all so irrelevant to the plot or devoid of proper screen time that we rarely care about any of them.

After the brutal and shocking intensity of X And pearl, MaXXXine is largely a disappointment. It brings the trilogy together coherently, while remaining a pulpy and semi-entertaining film, but there is an overriding and undeniable sense of preservation. Goth is fantastic and the supporting cast is also excellent, but ultimately MaXXXine maybe warrants one X, not three.

MaXXXine hits theaters July 5.

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