Summary

• As the final chapter of Ti West's horror trilogy, MaXXXine is moving away from the shared rural farm setting of X and Pearl and into Los Angeles.
• MaXXXine's more expansive Hollywood setting is a risky move, as it diverts from the trilogy's contained horror structure that contributed to X and Pearl's success and appeal.
• MaXXXine's more elevated setting also parallels the growth of Maxine's career as an actress, making it a natural progression for the trilogy's overarching narrative.

One major aspect of MaXXXine, the upcoming final installment in Ti West's hit horror trilogy, diverts from the established formula that made both X and Pearl's stories work so well. Viewers were first introduced to Mia Goth's Maxine in X, which followed an amateur adult film crew as they got slaughtered on a rural Texas farm in 1979 by the elderly owner named Pearl (also played by Goth in old-age makeup). Goth also portrayed the younger version of Pearl in an eponymous prequel movie about the murderess' origin story six months after X was released in 2022.

Now, Goth will return to her role as Maxine in MaXXXine, ​​a direct sequel to X. MaXXXine's story is set six years after the titular fame-hungry starlet escaped the gruesome events of X as the only survivor and follows the trilogy's final girl as she seeks to transition from small-town adult film star to big-time Hollywood movie star. Though the trailer for MaXXXine already shows some parallels to X and Pearl, there is one key difference between MaXXXine and the previous installments that might be difficult for West to pull off.

Mia Goth also plays the younger version of Pearl in Pearl.

MaXXXine's Bigger Setting Changes One Of X & Pearl's Best Horror Aspects

X & Pearl Both Take Place On Pearl's Family Farm While MaXXXine Plays Out All Over Los Angeles

Unlike X and Pearl, the events of MaXXXine will unfold in the bustling streets of Los Angeles instead of on a rural farm. Both X and Pearl are contained horror movies, meaning they utilize a remote setting to amplify a looming threat and generate fear, panic, and dread. Although X begins before the film crew arrives at their destination and Pearl leaves to go into town multiple times in Pearl, the bulk of both movies play out on Pearl's family farm, including every murder Pearl commits (with help from her husband Howard in X).

Widening the scope of the setting will distinguish MaXXXine from the trilogy's previous installments, making it not only a "substantially bigger" film...but a very different kind of slasher.

However, for the final chapter of his horror trilogy, West is moving the action away from the countryside and into a major metropolitan city in MaXXXine. Widening the scope of the setting will distinguish MaXXXine from the trilogy's previous installments, making it not only a "substantially bigger" film, as West said (via Entertainment Weekly), but a very different kind of slasher. This change of setting introduces a new killer since Pearl was killed by Maxine at the end of X. Now, Maxine is being hunted by a fictionalized version of the real-life Night Stalker serial killer in MaXXXine.

How MaXXXine's Setting Will Be The Trilogy's Biggest Challenge (So Far)

Steering The Story Away From Pearl's Farm Could The Trilogy's Closing Chapter

It may be tough for West to successfully transition from the contained horror structure of X and Pearl to the larger-than-life Hollywood setting of MaXXXine. The isolation of X and Pearl's shared setting was a major part of their appeal and essential to the formula that made them work. Though they were set 60 years apart against very different cultural and societal backdrops, the farm helped link their stories and create a certain atmospheric tension. Going from these middle-of-nowhere killing sprees to "a big, sprawling Los Angeles ensemble movie" with a new anonymous killer is "a big undertaking," West admits.

Now that Maxine is finally making it to the big time, the broader and more elevated setting in MaXXXine is thematically fitting.

This change of course does make sense with the direction the trilogy is taking, though. The setting expanding beyond Pearl’s farm in MaXXXine parallels Maxine’s career growth as an actress. In X and Pearl, Maxine and Pearl both resented the hands they were dealt and had big dreams of becoming a big star. Now that Maxine is finally making it to the big time, the broader and more elevated setting in MaXXXine is thematically fitting. It will be a challenge to pull off this shift in location, but it ultimately serves as a natural progression of the overarching narrative.

MaXXXine will be released in theaters on July 5, 2024.

Source: Entertainment Weekly