Martin Scorsese heaps praise on Ti West’s ‘MaXXXine’
Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese has praised director Ti West, his X film series, and the divisive third instalment, MaXXXine.
MaXXXine hit theatres on July 5th, and is the direct sequel to 2022’s X, which stars Mia Goth as the young woman and adult film star Maxine Minx, as well as the elderly murderer Pearl. The movie was then followed later that year by the prequel Pearl, which charts the origins of the eponymous villain.
In the hotly-anticipated MaXXXine, Goth reprises her role as Minx, with the film boasting an all-star cast featuring Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon. In the film, Maxine continues trying to secure fame and reverence in the weird world of 1980s Hollywood but is targeted by a killer.
Despite MaXXXine being one of the year’s most exciting releases, and touted for big things, many, including Far Out, have registered their disappointment at what they’ve labelled a somewhat hollow pastiche to the history of horror, despite being aesthetically accomplished.
In a three-star review, Far Out wrote: “West’s most recent entry seems to suffer from a lack of an overall haunting spectre or suchlike. MaXXXine is exciting, flashy, funny, sassy, self-aware and incredibly sexy, but it fails to be anything more than the sum of its parts: a neon-lit homage to the horrible history of Hollywood horror rather than a fear-inducing glimpse into the genre’s future.”
Additionally, in a deep dive into the disappointment of MaXXXine, Far Out noted: “From start to finish, MaXXXine is utterly bogged down in memory of the prior two films.” Adding: “What ensues feels like a lazy sequel, too focused on tying up loose ends from X that never felt loose in the first place.”
However, Scorsese disagrees and has celebrated the Quentin Tarantino-esque homage to the varied world of horror. Speaking to the New York Times, the New Yorker explained that he believes each film in the X trilogy symbolised a “different type of horror, related to different eras in American moviemaking.”
X is the slasher era of the 1970s, Pearl, “’50s melodrama in vivid, saturated colour”; and MaXXXine is “’80s Hollywood, rancid, desperate.” The director added that they are: “Three linked stories set within three different moments in movie culture, reflecting back on the greater culture.” He also lauded West’s boldness in blending modern elements into movies that are so dedicated to the aesthetics of previous eras.
Elsewhere, Scorsese praised West’s 2011 movie The Innkeepers, comparing it to the work of RKO’s legendary horror man Val Newton. He said that the core story stood on its own apart from the supernatural elements. Since that moment, Scorsese has wanted to see everything West has done and enjoyed following his career.
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