On the X Film Trilogy
Review: X Trilogy (X, Pearl, Maxxxine)
I did not watch the film in chronological order - I first watched Maxxxine, discovered it was a trilogy, and watched X and Pearl in succession. All three of them worked as standalone films, and each has different charms - X has that early 2000s slasher feel, Pearl is a psychological review of a character's descent to madness, while Maxxxine is a hardboiled detective story.
Mia Goth is amazing as four distinct versions of two characters in the trilogy (adult actress Maxine, aspiring Hollywood star Maxine, young Pearl, and old Pearl). I actually do not like Goth - I feel there is something weird and creepy about her since I watched her in Infinity Pool - but I could not deny her acting chops.
I did not expect to like Pearl - I do not like dedicated storylines to villains like Wicked or Maleficent - but I did. I like the simplicity of its plot, similar to X, and it does not elaborate why Pearl is a villain in the first film, as X has already explained her unabashed horniness as the culprit, but just shows how she was as a psychopath. It is not an origin story of a villain, as Pearl is evil all along.
X is straightforward - it's a slasher film, after all - with the exception of old people as villains. Unlike slashers of the early naughts, however, the film works because everybody (except Lorraine, played by Jenna Ortega) did smart and reasonable things; the old people got lucky (or are banking on it) they have the element of surprise in their side.
Maxxxine, unlike X, focused more on Maxine, the final girl from X. It's a departure from X and Pearl, with multiple characters, locations, and plot points going on. It still works overall and caps the trilogy nicely. I liked the ending, but did not like the reveal of the antagonist and his acting - it seems very elaborate and exaggerated, which seems on point as a leader of a cult, but I don't know, there is a difference between charismatic and comedic dramatization.
Is Maxine a psychopath like Pearl, except Maxine "made it out in showbiz" while Pearl did not? This is probably the intent of the director to cast Goth as both Maxine and Pearl. Both are evil in some way. Add to that my general dislike for Goth, and you have one hell of a trilogy.
4/5.