Chloe Farnworth Archives

July 5, 2024

by Carla Hay

Mia Goth in “MaXXXine” (Photo by Justin Lubin/A24)

Directed by Ti West

Culture Representation: Taking place in Los Angeles in 1985, the horror film “MaXXXine” (a sequel to 2022’s “X”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Maxine Minx aims to transition from porn films to her first starring role in a mainstream horror film, but she is being stalked by someone who threatens to reveal scandalous murder secrets from her past.

Culture Audience: “MaXXXine” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the “X” movie series and horror movies that don’t do anything groundbreaking but deliver suspense with good acting.

Mia Goth and Halsey in “MaXXXine” (Photo by Justin Lubin/A24)

As a sequel, “MaXXXine” doesn’t quite live up to expectations and has a very clumsily staged showdown ending. But the movie has a mostly skillful blend of horror and suspense, with Mia Goth giving another memorable performance. Some of the characters in the movie, although interesting, border on being caricatures. And it’s very easy to figure out who the mystery stalker is in the story, if viewers know how 2022’s “X” movie ended.

Ti West is the director and writer of the “X” slasher horror movie series, which began with 2022’s “X” and continued with the 2022 prequel “Pearl” and 2024’s “MaXXXine.” Goth is the star of all three films and is a co-writer of “Pearl.” “X” (which took place in Texas in 1979) shows what happened when the filming of a porn movie called “The Farmer’s Daughter” at a remote farm turned into a massacre when the disapproving farm owners found out that their property was being used to film pornography.

Spoiler alert for people who haven’t seen the “X” movie: Maxine Minx (played by Goth), the star of “The Farmer’s Daughter,” was the sole survivor of this massacre, which was instigated by the farm’s two owners: an elderly couple named Howard (played by Stephen Ure), nicknamed Howie, and his wife Pearl (also played by Goth). At the end of the massacre, Maxine left the property without telling anyone what happened. Maxine is originally from Texas and still talks with a thick Texas twang. The movie “Pearl” showed how Pearl became a serial killer while she was in her late teens and when she living with her parents on that same farm.

“MaXXXine,” which takes place in 1985 in Los Angeles, shows how 33-year-old Maxine gets her first starring role in a mainstream movie, but she is being stalked by a mystery man, who knows she was involved in the 1979 massacre at that Texas farm. This mystery man has hired a sleazy private detective named John Labat (played by Kevin Bacon), who has traveled from New Orleans to track down Maxine in Los Angeles. John has been tasked with informing Maxine that the person who hired him wants Maxine to be punished and possibly murdered.

Maxine has some of the same personality traits that she had in the “X” movie: She is still a cocaine-snorting and arrogant actress who believes she has what it takes to be a superstar. However, Maxine (considering what she’s experienced) is much more cynical and calculating than she was in the beginning of “X.”

An early scene in “MaXXXine” shows Maxine walking confidently into a warehouse-like soundstage to audition for the starring role in a horror sequel called “The Puritan 2.” The director of “The Puritan 2” is the coldly ambitious Elizabeth Bender (played by Elizabeth Debicki), who wants to be considered a film auteur, not just a horror filmmaking hack. Later in the movie, Elizabeth and Maxine have a conversation where they both understand that they are similarly cold-blooded and obsessed with their ambitions.

Maxine is auditioning for the role of Veronica Rutland and has to read an emotionally vulnerable monologue to Elizabeth and two other people on a judging panel. Maxine’s audition is also a screen test because it’s being filmed. Elizabeth tells Maxine that in this audition scene, Maxine has to show how the character of Veronica “confronts her pain.”

The decision makers all know about Maxine’s porn history. She assures them that she’s no longer doing porn movies, and she’s got the talent to do mainstream films. Still, even after doing a very convincing monologue, Maxine is asked to take off her top so the filmmakers can look at her breasts, because the Veronica Rutland role requires nudity. After this audition, Maxine struts outside and shouts to the line of actresses waiting to be called next about how she thinks her audition went: “You might as well go home because I fucking nailed that!”

Until she gets her big break in mainstream movies, Maxine is still doing sex work. Maxine works as a performer at a peep show joint called Show World. Unbeknownst to Maxine, she has a stalker who becomes one of her Show World customers one night. Until his identity is revealed, the stalker (who likes to wear all black leather) is seen only from the back. Maxine is friendly with one of her Show World co-workers named Tabby Martin (played by Halsey), who seems to be doing some street prostitution.

Maxine hasn’t completely removed herself from the porn film industry. After she auditions for “The Puritan 2,” she’s seen visiting a porn set and having a conversation in the dressing room with one of the porn movie’s actresses named Amber James (played by Chloe Farnworth), who is one Maxine’s few friends. Amber listens with some skepticism when Maxine brags that Maxine will soon make the transition into mainstream films.

Maxine’s best friend is Leon (played by Moses Sumney), a movie enthusiast who works at a local video store. Leon, who is openly gay, is the closest thing that Maxine has to a family member. Maxine and Leon also spend time hanging out at his cluttered apartment.

Some of the movie’s dark comedic moments are when Maxine interacts with her agent/attorney Teddy Night (played by Giancarlo Esposito), a fast-talking wheeler dealer who wants Maxine to break into mainstream films. Teddy has shady connections and doesn’t hesitate to get involved in doing some dirty work. When Teddy tells Maxine the news that she got the role in “The Puritan 2,” they are both elated. During the first day of filming the movie, Maxine meets her British co-star Molly Bennett (played by Lily Collins), who plays one of the nuns in “Puritan 2.”

As shown repeatedly in “MaXXXine,” Maxine is living in Los Angeles during a time when the serial killer nicknamed the Night Stalker (later identified in real life as devil worshipper Richard Ramirez) was causing terror around the Los Angeles area by breaking into people’s homes and viciously murdering them. Some of the murders that happen in the movie could be blamed on the Night Stalker or could be blamed on the real killer. The murders in “MaXXXine” are inevitably bloody and gruesome.

Maxine’s friends warn her not to go in unsafe places alone at night. But one night, she does exactly that and gets trapped in a dark alley with a Buster Keaton impersonator (played by Zachary Mooren), who wants to rob her with a knife. It’s enough to say that this would-be robber finds out quickly that you don’t mess with Maxine and her stiletto heels.

Two homicide investigators named Detective Williams (played by Michelle Monaghan) and Detective Torres (played by Bobby Cannavale) first come into contact with Maxine when they question her as a possible witness for a double homicide. Some of the movie’s comedic moments (which are hit-and-miss) are in the partner dynamics of Detective Williams (who plays the “good cop” in interrogations) and Detective Torres (who plays the “bad cop” in interrogations). Detective Torres, who reveals to one of the witnesses that he’s a failed actor, often irritates Detective Williams, who thinks Detective Torres is too aggressive during interrogations, and therefore he alienates witnesses.

“MaXXXine” makes great use of its 1980s soundtrack music to enhance some of the scenes. ZZ Top’s “Gimme All Your Lovin'” is the song playing when Maxine struts into her audition for “The Puritan 2.” In a somewhat unnecessary but still visually compelling scene, Maxine goes to a nightclub and dances among a group of people to an extended mix of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Welcome to the Pleasure Dome.” It may be too “on the nose,” but in a movie taking place in 1985 and has a stalker, it should come as no surprise that Animotion’s “Obsession” is part of the soundtrack. And during the movie’s end credits, Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” is a perfect choice that captures the mood of the very last scene.

“Maxine” also excels with its production design and locations. There are some very memorable scenes filmed on what’s supposed to be the Universal Studios lot, with some of the action taking place in or near the famous Norman Bates house used in the 1960 horror classic “Psycho.” “MaXXXine” also convincingly reacreates the tone and energy of what Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard were like in the mid-1980s. The costume design, hair and makeup are also very accurate.

The movie’s plot somewhat wanders in preference of showing moods and atmospheres. Maxine, who wants to appear fearless and self-assured, feels increasing terror as she finds out that she has a stalker and starts to understand that her stalker wants to kill her. One of the more striking scenes is when Maxine is getting a mold of her face done for “The Puritan 2,” and she has a panic attack flashback when she remembers what happened during the 1979 massacre in Texas. But since viewers know that Maxine wants to be a superstar more than anything else, she’s determined not to let anything to get in the way of her big break in “The Puritan 2.”

As Maxine, Goth gives the type of riveting performance that is the main reason to watch “MaXXXine,” which is a film that makes pointed commentary about the horror that can result from obsessive ambition. The supporting characters in “MaXXXine” just aren’t as well-developed as the supporting characters in “X” and “Pearl.” The Molly Bennett character in “MaXXXine” gets such little screen time and has such little bearing on the overall story, she might as well have not been in the movie.

Detective Williams and Detective Torres eventually become parodies because it seems like almost a joke for viewers to believe that the Los Angeles Police Department only has two cops working on all the homicides that occur in such a short period of time. There’s also a very unrealistic scene where a murder victim is carried out on a gurney on a street into a waiting ambulance while bystanders are watching, and Detective Williams dramatically flings off the bloody sheet that’s covering the victim’s mutilated body, just so Maxine (one of the bystanders) can see who the murder victim is.

“The Puritan 2” director Elizabeth seems like she wants to be Maxine’s mentor, but not enough of that relationship is explored in “MaXXXine.” In fact, Maxine’s actual work on “The Puritan 2” is rushed into the last third of “MaXXXine,” almost like an afterthought. But the weakest link in “MaXXXine” is the ridiculous-looking showdown, which cheapens the quality of the story. After all the buildup over Maxine’s quest for stardom, the results are overly contrived and anti-climactic, like a porn performer faking an orgasm in the type of porn movie that Maxine used to make.

A24 released “MaXXXine” in U.S. cinemas on July 5, 2024. Sneak previews of the movie took place in U.S. cinema on July 1 and July 3, 2024.

September 28, 2020

by Carla Hay

“12 Hour Shift”

Directed by Brea Grant

Culture Representation: Taking place in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 1999, the horror comedy “12 Hour Shift” has a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the middle-class.

Culture Clash: A drug-addicted hospital nurse, who illegally sells organs to make extra money, has crazy and horrible experiences during a 12-hour shift.

Culture Audience: “12 Hour Shift” will appeal primarily to people who like horror served up with a lot of dark and absurdist comedy.

Chloe Farnworth in “12 Hour Shift” (Photo by Matt Glass/Magnet Releasing)

What do you get when you cross a drug-addicted nurse with a cop killer, some thugs, a stolen kidney and wacky patients during a very long work day that stretches into the night? You get “12 Hour Shift,” an apologetically bloody and bawdy horror comedy that is not for people who are easily nauseated or for people who want a serious horror film. Written and directed by Brea Grant, “12 Hour Shift” is as rough around the edges as the story’s main character, but if you’re up for the bumpy ride, be prepared for an offbeat look at the type of hospital that could be a patient’s worst nightmare.

In “12 Hour Shift,” which takes place in 1999, the action centers around Mandy (played by Angela Bettis), a hospital nurse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Mandy has a prickly personality and a serious addiction to prescription drugs. She’s the kind of addict who doesn’t hesitate to steal prescription medication from a patient who’s unconscious.

At the beginning of the story, Mandy is seen smoking in a parking lot before she begins what will turn out to be the 12-hour shift from hell. It’s clear from her interactions with a co-worker in the parking lot that Mandy isn’t concerned about being a well-liked employee. When she goes inside the hospital, she snorts chopped-up pills in a storage room before she begins a double shift.

Mandy doesn’t just make money from the salary she gets from the hospital. To make extra money (presumably to support her drug habit), Mandy has been involved in some illegal transactions: She’s been selling the organs of dead patients who are in the hospital’s mortuary.

The hospital is understaffed, so viewers have to assume that Mandy has the time and the ability to remove people’s organs without anyone else noticing. Viewers will have to ignore a huge plot hole that’s not explained in the movie: What about the bodies that have to go to a medical examiner to determine the cause of death? That would expose a pattern of organs going missing from bodies at the hospital, which would trigger an investigation.

At any rate, “12 Hour Shift” is a dark comedy that’s not entirely rooted in realism. If people know before seeing this movie that the story takes some situations to extreme and absurd levels, they will enjoy the movie better. People who want a more straightforward, conventional horror movie should look elsewhere

During this particular 12-hour work shift, Mandy is doing her usual routine of handing off the bags of stolen organs (which include intestines and a kidney) in a small cooler container that she leaves near the hospital’s back entrance. Her accomplice is ditzy Regina (played by Chloe Farnworth), who is Mandy’s cousin by marriage. Regina gives Mandy the payment in cash, and Mandy goes back into the hospital.

However, Regina makes a big mistake when she takes the cooler with her but accidentally leaves behind a bag of organs at the back entrance. When Regina meets with a low-life thug named Nicholas (played by Mick Foley), she notices that a bag is missing. Nicholas is incensed because in that bag is a kidney that he needs right now.

When Regina frantically returns to the hospital’s back entrance, the bag that she left behind is gone. Regina goes to Mandy to tell her the bad news about the missing kidney. Mandy is furious, of course, because she knows that she could be in a lot of trouble since she was already paid for the kidney and she doesn’t want to give any of the money back. And so begins the zany quest for Mandy and Regina to find another kidney before Nicholas and his fellow thugs come looking for them to do who knows what if they don’t get a kidney for him.

There’s someone else who’s in on the organ sales schemes: Mandy’s no-nonsense co-worker Karen (played by Nikea Gamby-Turner), who gets her share of whatever cash that Mandy gets for the sales. Karen usually acts as the lookout while Mandy does the dirty work of removing the organs. And now that there’s a race against time to find another kidney, things are going to get pretty desperate.

But wouldn’t you know, this is the one shift where Mandy has to deal with some other intense situations, since she works in the emergency-room ward. A drug-overdose patient comes into the hospital. His name is Andrew (played by Aaron Preusch), and Mandy has a past with him that she’d like to forget.

An admitted cop killer named Jefferson (played by David Arquette) is brought to the hospital under police custody, and he becomes a pest because he tries to make moves on the hospital’s female staffers. Jefferson says, “I murdered a cop. I hate cops, but I love blondes.” Meanwhile, clueless Regina is enlisted to help find a dying patient from whom Mandy could steal a kidney. And it should come as no surprise that Regina (who shows up in a hospital uniform and high heels) makes a disastrous decision.

Meanwhile, there’s a running gag of a hypochondriac named Mr. Kent (played by Tom DeTrinis) who keeps showing up at the hospital to insist that he get a room, even though there’s nothing physically wrong with him. There’s an emergency medical technician named Derrick (played by Thomas Hobson), who might or might not be able to help Mandy. And there’s a weepy nurse at the hospital named Dorothy (played by Tara Peary), who asks, “Is there any more cake?,” as if her her day would be ruined if there’s no more cake in the employee break room.

The violence in the movie can get very gruesome, but some of it is so over-the-top, it’s not meant to be taken seriously. Arquette (who is one of the film’s producers) seems to know that his goofy public persona doesn’t make him entirely convincing when he’s supposed to play a dangerous criminal, so he hams it up quite a bit in this movie. Farnworth’s Regina is playing a stereotypical airhead, so there really isn’t supposed to be much depth to this role.

It’s Bettis’ portrayal as the hard-nosed Mandy that’s the performance to watch. Mandy might be facing a lot of trouble for her illegal antics, and some dangerous thugs might come after her, but Mandy’s got this tough “I don’t care/Just give me my money and drugs” demeanor that indicates she not to be messed with easily. There’s really no deep message in the mayhem and chaos that ensue in “12 Hour Shift.” In its darkly comedic way, the movie will make you think twice about what could happen if you’re unconscious in a hospital and a drug-addicted nurse wants to steal your medication or maybe one of your organs.

Magnolia Pictures’ Magnet Releasing will release “12 Hour Shift” in select U.S. theaters and on VOD on October 2, 2020.

Tag: Chloe Farnworth

Review: ‘MaXXXine,’ starring Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon

Review: ’12 Hour Shift,’ starring Angela Bettis, Chloe Farnworth, Nikea Gamby-Turner, David Arquette, Kit Williamson and Mick Foley