6 Lingering Questions We Have After The End Of MaXXXine

Highlights

• MaXXXine is a whodunit crime thriller with a double-hallucination ending.
• Ernest, Maxine’s father, becomes a powerful Hollywood figure through religion.
• Detective Williams and Torres’ fates remain unclear, and John’s plan on the Hollywood lot is puzzling.

Every film in this “X” trilogy has a different theme. The first movie, X, is about a group of adult film stars who get murdered on a farm. While there is some mystery, it’s pretty clear who the killer is. The sequel, Pearl, makes the murderer even more clear.

MaXXXine is a different story though because it is a whodunit crime thriller. The killer, presumed to be the real-life serial killer known as the Night Stalker, is only shown from behind. For viewers who watched the previous films, the identity shouldn’t be too hard to figure out and no, it isn’t Richard Ramirez aka the real Night Stalker. These other questions are more pressing because there are no direct answers by the end of MaXXXine. There will be spoilers in this examination.

6 Is The Ending A Double Hallucination?

The Cops Are More Lenient Otherwise

Maxine finally gets revenge on her father, Ernest, in the climax of the film. She has him pinned down with a shotgun but before she can pull the trigger, cops arrive in a helicopter. They tell her to lay her gun down, but in the process, Maxine starts to drift off in thought. She imagines herself on the red carpet and what life could be like after this incident.

She even fantasizes about selling her life rights to be a movie. Then things go back to the helicopter confrontation and Maxine blasts her father with the shotgun. It’s a brutal kill that then flashes forward a month and Maxine is still on the set of The Puritan 2. It’s meant to feel like reality but was this actually a double hoax? How could Maxine escape the long arm of the law even from the police in the media?

5 How Did Maxine’s Father Get So Rich?

Religion Is A Powerful Thing

In the first movie, X, there is a preacher on screen and on the radio multiple times. Characters pay attention occasionally to these religious rants, but no one truly comments on them. Then the film ends without it being addressed and it isn’t touched on in Pearl. It is revealed in MaXXXine that this preacher was Ernest, Maxine’s father all along.

His religious sermons became so popular that he became a powerful name in Hollywood. John, the private investigator hired by Ernest, is afraid of how powerful he is. Was Ernest always this famous or did he get famous just to go after Maxine? It’s a bit unclear and also a bit hard to believe even though religion can make some preachers rich in the process in both good and bad ways.

4 What Are The Fates Of Detective Williams And Detective Torres?

Falling Down On The Job

Detective Williams and Detective Torres follow Maxine around the film because they think she is involved in the killings. This leads them to the religious cult at Ernest’s compound, and they step in just in time to save Maxine and then they have an epic gun battle. In the process, Detective Torres seemingly gets mortally wounded and passes out in front of Maxine.

The same thing happens to Detective Williams but her injuries are less obvious. It is possible both detectives survived, or at least one of them, following the assault and maybe that’s why Maxine didn’t go to jail even though the police saw her blatantly explore her father’s head. It’s a mystery and one mystery detectives in this universe can’t solve.

3 What Was John’s Plan On The Hollywood Lot?

Where Was Everyone?

What John wants from Maxine for Ernest is a bit unclear. First, he threatens her with an adult video she is in. Then he follows her around which forces Maxine’s hand to punch John in the face. After that he follows her to the studio lot, brandishing a gun, and then he gives chase.

What was his plan? Why would he go to one of the most crowded places in Hollywood, a studio lot, to chase down Maxine with dozens of witnesses? Of course, the convenient part of this is that no one is around until the very end. It seems unlikely that the studio lot would have been so empty but maybe it was just John’s luck and his luck eventually ran out when that security guard came around.

2 How Did Teddy Get Rid Of John?

A Crushing Defeat

John’s luck truly runs out when Maxine creates a fake scenario to get him to chase her. Maxine goes to a dance club, makes sure John sees her and then escapes out of the bathroom. When John follows, he is knocked out by Maxine’s friend with a piece of wood.

John then comes to his car where he is tied to his steering wheel with Maxine and her lawyer/manager, Teddy, watching. Little does John know that he is in a car compactor and he does indeed get crushed into a dripping pile of goo. It’s the most brutal kill in the movie for sure. Teddy assures Maxine he will take care of everything but after this, Teddy is out of the movie. It would have been interesting to check in on Teddy again and to see how he covered things up.

1 What Was Maxine Doing Between 1979 And 1985?

Waiting For Her Big Break

Whether Maxine is hallucinating both endings is one thing but there is another aspect of her that isn’t covered. What happened to Maxine after the massacre at the farm from X? Did she go right to Hollywood to start a new life?

Did she have friends there already that helped set her up in the industry again? Also, why isn’t she more messed up about the massacre? She has a few episodes in MaXXXine like when she has plaster on her face but they don’t amount to much. It would have been great if the movie spent more time on Maxine’s trauma of being a sole survivor.