After re-watching Maxxxine, I need to talk about what I still think is a glaring plot hole

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Josh L

After re-watching Maxxxine, I need to talk about what I still think is a glaring plot hole

One of the most stylish films Schedule of films for 2024even the dirtiest style, Tee West A sequel that Hollywood glorifies MaXXXine delivered in the main a satisfying ending to the Maxine Minx story. Which is obviously a good thing since the director believes they got stuck on the landing with this and most likely won’t be diving into this universe anytime soon. But if Mia GothAs Maxine continues her journey, the story needs addressing what I still feel is a major plot hole even after re-watching.

This should go without saying, but we’ll dig into it SPOILERS BELOWso be forewarned if you haven’t checked out yet MaXXXine streaming from a Maximum subscriptionunless you’re just someone who likes to know about plot holes before you know about the plot itself.

Maxine puts the VHS tape into MaXXXine — (Image credit: Max)

Maxine has obtained a copy of the police video that links her to the Texas murders

When Maxine first realizes she’s been targeted, it’s only because her tormentor (later revealed to be her father) has decided to confront her with a VHS tape containing footage from a pornographic film caught on RJ’s camera during the events Tee West X. With the words “For Maxine” on the first label, it is revealed that the tape at least contains Maxine’s extensive sex scene, proving that she is the only survivor of Pearl and Howard’s murderous rampage.

Perhaps most significantly, the video begins with an on-screen notification that Texas authorities have marked the video as evidence after the camera was seized at the scene of the death. I mean, it was pretty much assumed that the cops knew about Maxine’s existence and would realize that she fled the scene of the crime, even if they didn’t fully suspect her of being the mastermind behind it all.

Screenshot of Maxine talking to Leon in the video store by MaXXXine

(Image credit: Max)

Leon probably had the tape nearby when he was killed

Maxine is obviously terrified to know that someone out there knows both her past crimes and her current whereabouts. So, with no other options to investigate, she tasks her best friend, video store salesman Leon (Moses Sumney), with finding out everything he can about the VHS tape. A few hours later, Leon is stabbed and stabbed to death by Maxine’s father, Ernest (Simon Prast), and the audience never learns that Leon knew nothing about the duplicate video.

Of course, I wouldn’t expect VHS-based research to yield useful information for these characters, but the key detail here is that Leon almost certainly had (probably illegally copied) police evidence tape at or near the video store’s front desk, since that night he worked until closing time. Although it is quite possible that Ernest picked up the tape before getting into the car Kevin BaconJohn Labat, he didn’t grab it in his bloody gloves at the time.

As such, I think the tape would have attracted the attention of both Williams detectives (Michelle Monaghan) and Torres (Bobby Cannavale), even though none of the other officers on the scene noticed his importance. And yet…

Screenshot of Detectives Williams and Torres talking to Maxine near the corpses from MaXXXine

(Image credit: Max)

The film is no longer mentioned, despite the fact that it can become a bombshell for detectives

Considering Det. Williams abruptly lifted the blood-soaked sheet to reveal Leon’s slashed face to Maxine (and many other viewers who didn’t deserve such a ruined morning), I immediately assumed they had found “For Maxine” tapes documenting her ties to the police Texas, and how that played into their attempt to provoke an emotional response from her. Even if the detectives have not yet been able to establish a precise connection between Maxine and the previous murders, I can understand the intent.

And I still go with that assumption every time Monaghan’s character treats Maxine with sympathy, especially after she mentions that she’s a “survivor.” And so when Williams and Torres show up and interrupt the nightmarish exorcism situation being filmed by Ernest Miller, I fully believe that Williams found out about what happened in Texas, realized that Maxine had escaped a traumatic situation, and decided not to report its. Something along the lines of “strong women empowering strong women”.

But none of this is addressed until the hyper-quirky Williams death scene takes place and Torres has already been left for dead. It just leads us to believe that Williams intuited that Maxine was in trouble and decided to follow those instincts without really knowing anything about her past. I understand that Williams is not ready to blurt it all out to Maxine, but the film could have shown it in a different way.

Maxine ends the film as a rising star who wishes her fame would never end, which already seems like a stretch considering her rise to fame only makes it more likely that someone will connect her to the Texas Murders. For this, it would not even be necessary for the investigators to find the tape “For Maxine” in the video store.

However, it stands to reason that anyone else who worked at this video store or was hired to replace Leon would have found the VHS and viewed it for cataloging purposes only to realize they had found something completely unexpected. So maybe the idea really IS that Maxine’s stardom will always be at odds with the threat that anyone who knows about unfinished porn can identify her and draw her into a world of bad publicity.

However, the film doesn’t state this outright, so I’m not sure we should even take it as a conclusion. If only the movie had a post-credits sequence where the camera zooms in slowly on a large pile of videos stacked against a wall with the tape “Fox Maxine” somewhere at the bottom. Instead, I sit here, not sure if this is a plot hole or just a theme for viewers to speculate about at their leisure.

After the broadcast MaXXXinecheck everything upcoming horror movies in the near and distant future.