To conclude Ti West’s bloody “X” saga, fans will see the first installment’s final girl — the kitsch and psychotic Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) — make her way to the City of Angels at long last in the trilogy’s murderous finale, “MaXXXine.” The A24 monolith ditches the western countryside, resurrecting Maxine’s killer instincts as she inches closer to her long-awaited shot at Hollywood stardom. With a star-studded cast including Kevin Bacon, Lily Collins, Michelle Monaghan, Sophie Thatcher, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney and Halsey, West enlisted the work of costume designer Mari-An Ceo, who notably led the Amazon Prime series “Them” (for which West directed some episodes), and currently helms Peacock’s “Based on a True Story.”
West’s interwoven tales of bygone eras of horror, spiced with the camp factor á la Death The Adamms Family (1991) and Becomes Her (1992), sit in a full-realized echelon of modern contemporary art, since praised by the likes of Stephen King and Martin Scorsese. Now, the final “X” entry takes place years after the fame-seeking lead’s countryside carnage, who finally arrived in Hollywood on the heels of a major film. Though amid the starlet-slaying killer, nicknamed the Night Stalker, a private investigator is forced to unravel Maxine’s sinister past.
Ceo initially admired West’s interpretation of Wizard of Oz in “Pearl”, which led her to the director’s email inbox, pitching the costume direction for his next installment. “I have a lot of film history in my soul, and ‘MaXXXine’ just fell into place for me,” Ceo told Beyond The Pines on a Zoom call from the Universal Studios office in Los Angeles. “For this movie, I was inspired by the Giali filmmaking from the seventies. And it turns out that’s what Ti [West] was into. I had the movie from there and immediately went into it hardcore.”
Bonding over the importance of atmosphere and film literature in filmmaking, the duo agreed to ditch the cliches, avoiding the ’80s denim-on-denim crisis, the leg warmers, and shoulder pads (as much as possible) this time around. Instead, Ceo opted for the more reflective fabrics of ‘80s glam rock, which better compliments the neon lights of Los Angeles streets, with a Blondie-inspired wardrobe specifically for “Maxine ‘freaking’ Minx”, as the deranged character self-proclaimed in the film’s gory trailer.
Ahead, Ceo shares her insight behind the under-represented ‘80s aesthetic for “MaXXXine”, one where she caved to a one-time homage to Reebok shoes, which Goth begged to wear, and found costume inspiration for new characters, especially Kevin Bacon’s Labatt character after several recastings, aesthetic changes, and, most importantly, much-needed size adjustments.
The “Bombshell” Look: Avoiding ‘80s Cliches The Right Way
From the two-minute teaser alone, fans are introduced to a non-leg-warmed ‘80s experience, a rare and smart decision from Ceo. Ceo isn’t anti-cliche, styling Maxine in a double-jean outfit for one scene and sprinkling some shoulder-pad love for Debicki’s character, but ultimately noted that LA still cherished old Hollywood glamor and bombshells as much as they did Aqua-Net. Instead of resurrecting a “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-ified” Sarah Jessica Parker, the movie took the remnants of late ‘70s punk rock. Its offspring being “glam rock”– a flashy yet smoky undercurrent of the subsequent decade– in the fishnet-and-leather realm of debut Madonna and Cher’s “Turn Back Time.”
The costume designer coined Debby Harry, the lead singer of late-century rock band Blondie, as the main muse for Maxine’s wardrobe, specifically pinpointing her black “revenge” dress as her favorite “MaXXXine” outfit– even though the Michelle Pfeiffer-esque garment is best captured on the movie poster.
“You don’t see the scene much, but the dress was a mature, idyllic version of Maxine. It was something very typical of a 1930s movie premiere,” Ceo tells Beyond The Pines. “That’s one dress that Blondie pretty much wore. It was made from this really beautiful Belgium silk, light as a feather, and beautifully floated around Mia [Goth]. Especially with that red makeup, she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer from ‘Scarface.’” Ceo even pointed out the crossing dress straps formed an “X” along Goth’s back, referencing the namesake trilogy.
New Faces Call For New Inspiration
Ceo has a hard time choosing a favorite character she brought to life, but she did admit the character John Labat was a continuous toss-up until actor Kevin Bacon came along. “They hadn’t cast [the actor to play Labat] yet, so I thought it was a big guy, like Orson Welles in ‘Touch of Evil.’ I kind of went with this guy [for Labat] that doesn’t shower and sleeps in his car wearing a suit.”
Much like West, Ceo is a visual artist. Her character costuming is a mixture of “feeling out” the script, her extensive film literature knowledge, departmental collaboration, and pure soul instincts. Otherwise, West tasks Ceo with a clear-cut vision to execute, as per Sumney’s character Leon. Regardless of the inspiration avenue, all roads lead to famed LA costumes for sample pulls. “I’ll read about Labat [in the script], and say ‘This reminds me of a Jim Thompson novel [from his 1950s detective series]. Then, I went to Western Costume Co. and found this amazing vintage tobacco-stained suit with nicotine smeared all over it. I was going to use it as a sample to make for [a much bigger] Labat. But when they cast Kevin Bacon, the suit fit him perfectly.”
“Look Closely At The Costumes But Pay Attention To The Acting”
From letting Goth break her high-shoe-only memo for a brief Reebok sprint scene, snagging vintage Sergio Valente jeans for Monaghan’s character, to Maxine’s reflective monogrammed bomber jacket that balances out Hollywood’s neon lights, somehow the spot-on research just missed the camera lens.” We don’t see enough of their clothes,” Ceo says in a sarcastic tone. “I’m just going to tell Ti that when I see him in-person again.” [Halsey’s character] Tabby had this tiger dress underneath a fur coat. [Chloe Farnworth’s character] Amber had simple little, amazing clothes like this silk parachute jumper you barely see.” However, Ceo refrained from describing certain characters in detail, afraid of spoiling the killer and eliminating suspects, yet left a two-part clue: the killer is a new character that’s “in the shadows “ for most of the movie. “Look closely at the costumes, but pay attention to the acting. We used the wallpaper a lot,” she adds as a sleuthing antidote.
In her quest for costume appreciation, Ceo found something more: a worthwhile filmmaking experience.“I really wanted ‘MaXXXine’ to feel like it was a period movie from the eighties that wasn’t cliche,” Ceo wrapped up her final thoughts. “When you have the talented Ti, [cinematographer] Eliot Rockett, and top-notch actors[…] I’m just very proud of the movie we ended up doing. Sometimes it doesn’t always pan out that way, but it’s spot on with what Ti intended.”
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