‘MaXXXine’ review: A massive disappointment that not even Mia Goth can save

In my defense of X, the first film of this Mia Goth-tinged horror trilogy, I lauded its pornstar-studded story of young misfits shooting X-rated content at a 1970s farmhouse as actually being a critique of American conservatism, its prudishness and hypocrisy — however crude or uneven it may seem at times.

It’s scary because its veiled Christian undertones work. The film suggests that forcibly repressing sexual desires, no matter how old or young, can become a live wire sparking toward combustion...