Upamanyu Biswas
After working in the realm of adult films for years, Maxine Minx tries to break into the mainstream movie industry in Ti West’s ‘MaXXXine.’ The young starlet’s sleazy stardom is no longer enough to sate her growing need for recognition when her dream finally comes close to being realized upon landing the lead role in the upcoming slasher film ‘The Puritan II.‘ Unfortunately, Maxine attracts the attention of a serial killer who stalks her every move, turning her life into hell as she navigates the treacherous waters of Hollywood while a heap of corpses starts to line up around her. The film’s conclusion sheds light on Maxine’s fate while also raising questions about her situation’s authenticity, mainly regarding whether it is all happening inside her head! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Maxine Confronts the Killer Stalking Her and Her Loved Ones
‘MaXXXine‘ ends with the titular protagonist cornering her incapacitated televangelist father, Ernest Miller, who turns out to be her stalker and the main killer in the film. Her religiously uptight dad is unhappy and offended by his daughter’s sinful and salacious porn career and the impressionistic messages put out by the gory slasher films she wants to take part in. Enraged by the moral bankruptcy permeating the Los Angeles entertainment industry, Ernest takes matters into his own hands by handing out divine punishment to those who have been led astray. He murders Maxine’s friends Tabby Martin and Amber James with the help of other fundamentalists, branding them with pentagrams associated with Satanism.
In the film’s final moments, Ernest binds Maxine to a pillar and performs an exorcism on her, threatening to brand her with the same mark as the other victims before Detective Torres and William arrive to save her. The ensuing gunfight leads to the decimation of the fundamentalist group, with Ernest running off toward Hollywood Hill to escape a similar fate. Maxine follows him up the steps with a shotgun recovered from one of the fallen cult members before arriving near a fatally wounded Torres and his partner William with a cross stuck in her eye. Determined to end her torment, Maxine strides toward her father’s broken body as he lies on the dirt, pleading with her to change her ways and save him. Looking down at his body in pity, she sees a future where things work out in her favor.
Maxine Fantasizes a Positive Outcome After the Murders
With the police bearing down on Maxine and Ernest, the young starlet imagines a scenario in which, in light of The Night Stalker being brought to justice, she gains stardom by catching another serial murderer in the shape of her father. In her dream, Maxine is interviewed by a major news channel after the release of her horror film ‘The Puritan II,’ which has catapulted her rise within the Hollywood food chain. A press interview during the film’s premiere also reveals that she has optioned her life rights to be turned into a documentary film helmed by the director of her slasher flick, Elizabeth Bender. Subsequently, Maxine returns to her present-day predicament, announcing to her father that his interference in her life was not a hindrance but a “divine intervention” before blowing his head off.
The dream sequence highlights a positive spin on the events of the film that have cost Maxine several friends through brutal murders. Consequently, the aspiring actor’s decision to capitalize on those horrifying deaths serves as a callback to the movie’s opening quote by Bette Davis: “In this business, until you’re known as a monster, you’re not a star.” As Maxine is obsessed with growing her brand and image due to a deep-seated ambition for fame, her ruthlessness is demonstrated through the vision in her head. It also illustrates how far she is willing to go to break her shackles and make the transition she always wanted, even if it is obtained through selfish means. Thus, in a strange twist of affairs, her father’s murders and eventual death seemingly turn out to be the breakthrough she is looking for.
Maxine Achieves Her Lifelong Dream
At the end of ‘MaXXXine,’ the titular lead wraps up filming a month after her father’s death. Before the credits roll, Maxine tells Elizabeth that she hopes her stardom never ends. Having gained her entry into the film business, she wants to stay there as long as possible without getting chewed out like many newcomers. However, the film’s final moments spark another discussion surrounding the authenticity of Maxine’s supposed happy ending. When Maxine kills her father with the shotgun, it seems unlikely that her actions will be viewed as a just measure by law enforcement, primarily because the helicopter hovering overhead tells her explicitly to drop the gun and surrender to the police.
Having taken gunfire from the detectives, Ernest is injured and not a threat to anyone. Therefore, when Maxine kills him, it is simply an act of murder and not self-defense or manslaughter. Additionally, after the credits start rolling, the giant MaXXXine sign instead of the Hollywood sign suggests that parts of the narrative’s conclusion can be happening in the titular protagonist’s head. It is possible that in a similar fashion to her previous optimistic dream, Maxine imagines the ending portions of the film, in which she has finally succeeded in stepping into the movie industry. However, it’s worth noting that the MaXXXine sign may be a creative way of dropping the film’s title during the credits without any other deeper meanings attached.
As far as writer-director Ti West is concerned, Maxine’s success is not a dream. “I always had in my mind as having made it in Hollywood. That was such a goal for her, was to become a star,” the director told USA Today. Given Maxine’s effort throughout the narrative to break into the film industry and then hold onto her success despite a killer looking to end her life, it seems unlikely that the final moments are a complete manifestation of her mind. In all likelihood, it is real, and Maxine has accomplished what she set out to do at the film’s start. Even if there are certain open-ended elements to the film’s conclusion, it leaves a level of ambiguity that will intrigue viewers.
Read More: Kevin Turen Tribute on MaXXXine: Who was He? How Did He Die?
