MaXXXine Director Says Film’s Ending Was Inspired By Pearl’s Creepy Credit Sequence

MaXXXine director Ti West has revealed that the trilogy’s ending was primarily inspired by Pearl’s creepy credit sequence.

West’s trio of horror films reached its bloody conclusion with Hollywood horror film MaXXXine, the direct sequel to 2022’s X. Warning: slight spoilers below!

The final installment in the franchise also includes echoes of the 2023 prequel, Pearl, most notably in its ending. MaXXXine ends with a long close-up of Maxine’s decapitated prosthetic head on a bed before showing a view of Los Angeles.

West told USA Today that this moment was exactly where he wanted the series to end, as it was “partly a nod” to the ending of the second film.

“There’s something about Pearl’s ending, about her smiling and trying to keep smiling, that’s representative of the movie as a whole,” he explained. “And there’s also something about that severed head on the bed that’s photographed that’s also representative of the absurdity of it all.”

A24

The end credit sequence of Pearl features the main character, also played by Mia Goth, looking directly at the camera with a painfully forced smile on her face.

It’s an incredibly haunting moment as Pearl realizes that all the murders she committed throughout the film ultimately didn’t help her achieve her dream of becoming a famous choir singer, and that she would be stuck on the family farm forever.

Instead of using a still image of Pearl’s terrifying smile, Goth keeps the expression throughout the credits, and it’s her manic energy that really ties the moment together.

While the sequence helped set the prequel apart from other horror films, Goth revealed that it was entirely invented on the spot.

“It wasn’t actually in the script,” Goth told Total Film Magazine. “It was something that Ti[West]thought of the day before we started shooting. He came to me and said, ‘Listen, I have this idea, rather than freeze-frame, we’re going to keep going and see what happens. And if nothing happens, fine, we’ll just freeze-frame it.’”

“That scene turned out to be an incredibly cathartic experience for me. A really poignant experience. It’s like a purge.”

West’s decision to end MaXXXine with a final shot of Goth’s face encased in a hardened plastic mold is the perfect ending to a franchise built on characters who want nothing more than to fit into society’s ideal standards of celebrity and beauty, no matter the cost.

MaXXXine is in theaters now. You can also check out other new A24 movies, the best Neon horrors to watch before Longlegs, and new movies coming out in July.