"MaXXXine", the final part of the trilogy about a brave and determined girl who fears neither crocodiles in Texas nor maniacs in Hollywood, is now in wide release.

The sole survivor of the bloody massacre in Texas during the filming of an arthouse porn, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) has been living in Los Angeles for six years now, stubbornly trying to conquer Hollywood, which has yet to yield to her. To live a relatively normal life in the big city, Maxine doesn't shy away from any work (but it's always the sex industry, what she does best). One fine day, everything falls into place, and Maxine's performance astonishes the ambitious and daring British woman Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), the director of the acclaimed horror film "The Innocents."

She plans to shoot a sequel and unconditionally casts Maxine in the lead role. Goal achieved, the girl has finally entered the murky waters of bohemian life, which also has its own crocodiles, even scarier than those in Texas. But Maxine doesn't care. A gun in her purse, a confident and slightly cheeky look. She'll definitely skip the party on a rich oligarch's yacht because she has an early makeup fitting tomorrow. And on the night streets of the City of Angels, a mysterious killer known as the Night Stalker is on the loose, and it seems Maxine is one of his targets.

"MaXXXine" is not, of course, but the X-factor, that is, the success factor, to some extent becomes a common denominator for these two films. Dominic Toretto and Goth's character stubbornly pursue it, literally walking over heads, and both choose radical means to achieve their cherished goal. But if Dominic did everything for family, the hedonist Maxine does it solely for her own comfort in the spotlight. She will work until bloody calluses for it. Analogies also stubbornly come to mind with Vera Alentova's heroine in "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears." The same big city, the same ambitions, provincialism, and the same need to be, not to seem. But these comparisons are clearly not in Maxine's favor.

Ivan Kilyakov

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In general, Maxine's work ethic in the era of heroes reflecting on various issues is simply phenomenal in Ti West's work, and this sets her apart from her colleagues. How can a girl who lost all her close colleagues in that massacre in the first part of the trilogy feel? Well, pretty good, judging by the third part. She is determined, righteously (and if necessary, unrighteously) angry, and hungry for fame and money; she doesn't wring her hands but thinks one step ahead. And no traumas, including psychological ones, will prevent her from grabbing her piece of the desired pie. And the deliberately cinematic maniacs from giallo horrors are mere trifles.

"MaXXXine" is in no way inferior to the two previous parts of the trilogy, although the gem of this project is rightfully "Pearl." They are equally concise, fun, well-crafted, stylish ninety minutes of gentle mockery of niche genres from the 70s and 80s. Times changed, eras and presidents changed, so in each film West relied primarily on the current situation. The world of the third film is the world of neon 80s (which in West's depiction look much better than the real ones), the first Parental Advisory stickers, heavy metal, the beginning of the VHS era, when directors released films directly to video rental, bypassing the big screen. Their names later sank into obscurity, but they were lovingly rewatched by Quentin Tarantino, for whom West seems to have a special affection.

And he expressed this love most vividly in "MaXXXine," essentially repeating the overall setting of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." And if an aged Rick Dalton with a flamethrower had appeared in the film's finale, probably no one would have been surprised. Even the sets of the Hollywood western, in which the heroine flees from a crooked detective (the wonderful Kevin Bacon), seem to have come from there. As do the homages to grindhouse and giallo. If this can be held against West, it would probably be the only criticism. Well, except that by the third part, the director has somehow become more serious and stopped having obvious fun.

West hasn't forgotten about his direct craft either: there are a couple of inventive horror scenes that make you feel uneasy. In short, you can't accuse West of excessive bravado yet. But he still has everything ahead. Overall, the center of all three films remains the magnificent Mia Goth, who has finally deservedly landed a breakthrough role. In fact, she is these films. The new scream queen acts so fiercely that sparks fly. And her walk in the prologue to ZZ Top will surely become iconic.