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 In 2022, X first blew audiences away with a twisted spin on slasher flicks that skewered the male gaze.

It was an explosive career breakthrough for Goth, who played both a young wannabe porn star called Maxine Minx and (thanks to six hours' worth of incredible ageing make-up) the bloodthirsty old woman who brutally attacks Maxine and her crew.

A critically acclaimed prequel, Pearl, exploring the old lady's backstory, was released just a few months after, cementing Goth's scream-queen status. A new genre icon was born.

Now, Maxine Minx is back, in MaXXXine. Set in Los Angeles in 1985, several years after the grisly events of X, it sees our heroine still determinedly chasing her dreams of fame. After strenuous auditioning, she lands a part in a low-budget horror sequel, directed by Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown, Tenet).

However, Maxine is haunted not only by her violent past but by the shadowy threat of the Night Stalker, the real-life 1980s serial killer who targeted Hollywood's starlets. Meanwhile, a seedy private detective (Kevin Bacon) is also hot on Maxine's tail, along with a couple of cops (Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale).

Elsewhere, Giancarlo Esposito, Lily Collins, Moses Sumney and Halsey add yet more firepower to MaXXXine's star-studded cast.

Each instalment of this cine-literate trilogy boasts its own distinctive movie-house aesthetic. Where X was a grimy 1970s tribute to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Pearl was a pitch-black reimagining of The Wizard Of Oz, MaXXXine rocks a fabulous Flashdance-era style. Think backcombed hair, crystal lip gloss, dry ice, red neon and, of course, a killer 1980s soundtrack.

"It's the biggest story of the three, with the highest stakes, and Maxine has gone through so much at this point," Goth told Variety earlier this year. "She's a force to be reckoned with and she goes through some pretty wild adventures." That's an understatement.

Sensational and subversive, MaXXXine looks set to be one of the year's most talked-about genre movies.   Larushka Ivan-Zadeh