Ti West’s acclaimed X slasher trilogy has finally come to a close with the release of the highly anticipated third installment, MaXXXine. The trilogy has been praised by both critics and horror fans alike for its subversion of typical horror tropes and for revitalizing the slasher subgenre. With a powerhouse lead performer in Mia Goth, the films follow the intertwined lives of Maxine Minx (Goth) and Pearl Douglas (Goth), two women who only dream of stardom.
X follows Maxine as she goes to a remote farm property to shoot an adult film with her boyfriend and friends, which ends in a massacre. Meanwhile, the surprise prequel, Pearl, is a character study of why Pearl is the way she is. MaXXXine follows our titular final girl as she continues her quest to become famous in sleazy ’80s Hollywood.
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X (2022)
- Release Date
- March 18, 2022
- Runtime
- 1hr 45min
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Pearl
- Release Date
- September 16, 2022
- Runtime
- 1hr 42min
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MaXXXine
In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx lands her big break, but her rise to stardom is jeopardized by a mysterious killer targeting starlets. As the body count rises, secrets from Maxine’s past threaten to surface, intertwining her quest for fame with a deadly game of survival.
- Release Date
- July 5, 2024
- Runtime
- 1h 43m
The trilogy certainly subverts expectations when it comes to the tired tropes that are typically found in horror and the slasher subgenre. It prioritizes well-written scripts, developed characters, and strong performances. One thing it does take from slashers of the past is gory, gruesome kills.
The kills in these films are brutal yet entertaining, and never done just for shock value or for the sake of including gore. Each one fits within the context of the films and are shot masterfully. Here are the best kills from the X trilogy, ranked:
8 The Projectionist and the Pitchfork in Pearl (2022)
When Pearl (Mia Goth) was a young woman in 1918, her husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) was overseas fighting in World War I. This left an impressionable young Pearl lonely and desperate to leave her family’s farm. She was convinced that she was meant for more than rural farm life and would seek out any opportunity for potential fame. She was not going to stay on that farm.
Death by Pitchfork
While Howard was away, Pearl met a handsome projectionist (David Cornswet) at the local movie theater whom she had an affair with. Pearl genuinely liked him and thought he could help expand her worldview, but her hopes were quickly shattered when he visited the farmhouse.
Pearl’s increasingly odd behavior scared him, but Pearl would not allow him to leave when she believed she did nothing wrong. The projectionist received pitchfork stabs to the chest for daring to leave Pearl behind on the farm and was eventually dumped in the lake alongside his car. His death was violently tragic, especially since he tried to be nice to Pearl.
7 Mr. Miller’s Blast to the Head in MaXXXine (2024)
It is revealed at the end of X that the televangelist preacher who has been shown in multiple TV spots is actually Maxine’s father, Ernest Miller (Simon Prast). Maxine had an ultra-religious upbringing in Texas due to her father and at some point escaped the cult-like environment to pursue her dream of becoming famous.
In MaXXXine, we discover that Mr. Miller has been searching for his daughter for quite some time and knows about her ventures in adult entertainment and what occurred at the farmhouse.
A Blast From the Past
Fair warning that there are spoilers for MaXXXine beyond this point. The black-gloved killer who has been stalking both Maxine’s friends and herself throughout the film is revealed to be Mr. Miller in the final act. He uses Maxine’s desire for fame against her in an attempt to bring her back into the Evangelist religion by saying the whole world will know her name if she admits to having the devil in her.
There is a rather corny shootout between the LAPD and Mr. Miller’s followers that leads to a chase up to the Hollywood sign, where she has her final confrontation with her dad. As he’s lying on the ground bleeding and pleading with her, she fires a shotgun blast in his face and his head physically explodes. We see his head explode in bloody chunks in real-time. It’s a gnarly kill that is simultaneously satisfying and gruesome.
6 Wayne Gilroy’s Pitch Fork to the Eye in X (2022)
Wayne Gilroy (Martin Henderson) was Maxine’s boyfriend and the producer of the adult film their crew was making in X. He was the one who made the arrangements with Howard and Pearl to stay at their boarding house on the farm property while they shot their movie. Although, he didn’t tell the elderly couple what kind of movie they would be shooting when he booked the house.
Jealousy Can Be Deadly
When the elderly Pearl catches the crew in the act, she is not pleased. She is envious that her guests are young enough to do this with no complications, and it sends her into a jealousy-fueled rage. One of her first victims is Wayne who is out looking for RJ, whom Pearl also killed.
Wayne is woken up to go look for RJ, so he walks barefoot through the barn to find him. He steps directly on a large nail, which results in him crawling with his bloody foot. He hears something and looks out of a hole in the back wall, only to be stabbed through the eyeball with Pearl’s pitchfork. Stepping on a nail is already painful enough, but to be stabbed through your eye is an unimaginable pain.
5 Bobby-Lynne’s Swim with Theda in X (2022)
Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) was Maxine’s friend and the other star of The Farmer’s Daughters, the adult film the group was making. She was unashamedly proud of her work and was incredibly sex-positive, something that Pearl was again jealous of. Her death was perhaps one of the most brutal in the film, and maybe the most personal.
Sometimes Kindness Kills
After Maxine wakes up screaming that Pearl was in her bed touching her, Bobby-Lynne goes outside to look for her boyfriend and co-star Jackson Hole (Kid Cudi). On the dock, she runs into Pearl, who seems lost, so Bobby-Lynne wraps her blanket around the older woman to keep her warm and tries to help her get back to the main farmhouse.
Pearl suddenly slaps Bobby-Lynne across the face, rightfully angering Bobby. Pearl then pushes her off the dock into the lake where Pearl’s pet alligator, Theda, is circling. Bobby-Lynne gets viciously eaten alive by Theda as Pearl watches with Howard, commenting that she’s always hated blondes.
4 Mitsy Getting Axed in Pearl (2022)
Howard’s sister Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) was really the only friend that Pearl had. She would often visit the remote farmhouse to talk with Pearl, bring food, and even invite her out on occasion. She was nice to Pearl and indulged her dreams of becoming a star. The two of them went to a dance audition that would take one winner cross-country. That would prove to be a big mistake on Mitsy’s part.
An Ax to the Heart
Pearl’s audition did not go according to plan. Her overly energetic performance did not resonate with the judges and she was denied, sending Pearl into a full-blown tantrum about how she’s a star. When Mitsy takes Pearl home afterward, Pearl delivers a nine-minute-long monologue about her resentment toward Howard, her affair, and her homicidal tendencies.
Understandably freaked out, Mitsy tries to leave, but Pearl coerces her into admitting she won the competition before Mitsy finally walks out. Pearl then chases her down the driveway with an ax and hacks away at her. Much of the hacking isn’t shown on screen, but Pearl’s verbal acceptance of her murderous ways is rather disturbing.
3 John Labot in the Hydraulic Compactor in MaXXXine (2024)
One of the newest characters added to the X universe is the sleazy John Labot, a private investigator hired by the killer to follow Maxine and instruct her to go to a mansion in the Hollywood Hills to confront him. Played expertly by Kevin Bacon, Labot quickly gets on Maxine’s nerves and is given a broken nose by the determined aspiring actress. Still, Maxine worries that Labot and his employer will not only threaten her safety but her chance at real stardom.
Crushed to Death
Maxine goes to her agent, who is also her lawyer, Teddy Knight (Giancarlo Esposito) for help in getting Labot off her back. She lures him through a club where he thinks he has her cornered in a bathroom, only to realize she has hopped out of the stall window. He is then shown chained to the steering wheel of his car, which is on a hydraulic compactor in a junkyard.
Maxine and Teddy silently watch as Labot begs for his life as the compressor eventually crushes the car with him inside. Excessive amounts of blood pour out of the driver-side door in a gloriously gory manner.
2 RJ Getting Repeatedly Stabbed by Pearl in X (2022)
RJ (Owen Campbell) is the supposed artistic director of The Farmer’s Daughter who has a vision for the film that does not include his girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenna Ortega). When she decides that she doesn’t want to just be behind the scenes, she wants to be in the scenes, RJ is adamant about not letting her be in the movie. Despite his jealousy and disdain, Lorraine shoots a scene. RJ is so angry that he takes the group’s truck and attempts to leave them stranded there.
Don’t Fear the Reaper
RJ is about to leave when he sees Pearl standing outside in her nightgown. He gets out of the car to help her, but she tries to seduce him. RJ is visibly grossed out and tells Pearl that he doesn’t want her, which ignites another rage-fueled murder spree. She stabs him in the throat as he’s talking and takes him to the ground where she continues to stab him until she detaches his head from his body.
All of this is being done while Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” plays over the killing. The killing is nasty, but the music overlay makes it one of the most iconic kills in the entire trilogy. Plus, RJ wasn’t exactly the most likable character.
1 Maxine Running Over Pearl in X (2022)
Both Maxine and Pearl have this insatiable desire to be a star and to live a life they believe they deserve. Pearl lets it get the best of her and acts on all of her worst impulses, whereas Maxine uses it as motivation to survive. Pearl is irrationally threatened by Maxine’s freedom to live her life as she pleases, but she also sees some of herself in Maxine. When Maxine doesn’t reciprocate those sentiments and is instead desperate to get away, it doesn’t end well for Pearl.
Heads Will Roll
After sneaking into her bed while she was sleeping, touching her, and murdering her friends, Maxine has enough of Pearl’s antics. She at first tries to shoot Pearl, but the gun is out of bullets. Pearl then grabs a shotgun to shoot Maxine, but the force of the shot knocks her off the porch and injures her. Maxine takes the opportunity to get in the truck and reverse the car right into Pearl’s head, repeatedly.
The last thing Pearl sees before Maxine takes her out is a tire coming at her at full speed. It’s a horrific way to go, but considering what Pearl put Maxine through, it’s oddly satisfying.
