And so the X trilogy comes to an end with the last instalment Maxxxine. It once again stars British actress Mia Goth, in what is a sequel to the first film, 2022’s X.

Goth reprises her role of adult entertainment star Maxine Minx, as she attempts the transition from porn star to Hollywood actress.

So many young people head to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune and Maxine Minx (Goth) is no different.

She has made a name for herself in porn, but she wants more, she wants to be a star, and what better place than Hollywood to do it.

And she’s doing all the right things too, like going to auditions, which is how she gets a role in a horror sequel for director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) in The Puritan 2.

But LA is a dangerous place in 1985, with a serial killer known as the Night Stalker on the loose. And on top of that, a strange, mysterious character is attempting to reach out to Maxine, and she’s getting the distinct impression his intentions aren’t good.

So will the starlet be able to avoid the deadly pitfalls around her and become a star?

It’s fair to say that Ti West wasn’t a name on everyone’s lips pre his X trilogy, with him having directed a number of b horror movies. It’s no surprise then that after the critical success of X, he wanted to maintain that spotlight on him, much like his protagonist Maxine, but just going about it in a slightly different way. But the end result was to be the same however – fame.

And he’s certainly made a name for himself, and this last entry is definitely the most ambitious of the three, but possibly too ambitious.

It is a homage to films of the eighties, in style and content, following an aspiring actress wanting to make it big. But unfortunately West juggles just one too many narrative balls at once; continuing Maxine’s story from X, whilst establishing her present career trajectory, against a backdrop of murders by the killer known as Night Stalker. In doing so, the narrative thread as a whole becomes overly diluted, shifting the attention of the audience over and over. And without a single point to focus on, it makes it difficult to care what happens to Maxine.

The film isn’t helped in that area by the fact that Maxine isn’t really a warm individual; she is mostly cold and aloof, making her more of an anti-heroine of this particular horror flick.

It’s a shame because West does well in creating his homage cinematically at least, being quite playful with its look and feel, as well as obvious nods to classic Hollywood cinema as a whole; not only does the Psycho house feature prominently, but he also has a private eye, played by Kevin Bacon, who looks very similar to Jack Nicholson’s J.J.Gittes’ private dick from Polanski's 1974 classic Chinatown.

It won’t do Goth’s career any harm, but the fact that her characters in this trilogy have been devoid of personality, may mean she’ll need a more personable role soon, if her own career is to get to the next level of fame.

Unfortunately the various little Easter eggs aren’t enough to prop up what is a rather disappointing story, which feels like it just fades further into the background the deeper into the film you go.

Still, it does feel that Ti West has certainly arrived, but with this trilogy now concluded- although not necessarily to a satisfying conclusion - he may need to think carefully about his next project, as we all know how fickle Hollywood can be.