XXX Factor

It all started with X – an ode to the 1970s early slasher movies; then, it was followed up by prequel Pearl – a horror flashback paying tribute to the early days of colour cinema; and it all concludes (supposedly) with MaXXXine (2024) – which leaps into 1985... following survivor of the original, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), as she navigates Los Angeles – attempting to make it in the cutthroat world of show business. One of the more unique trilogies in cinema history, writer/director Ti West’s conclusion is not complex in its narrative... if you’ve been in tune with the films from the very beginning, it will likely not be too difficult to guess where it’s all leading to, but it is utterly impressive in its cinematic dialogue – in other words, how it pulls its inspiration from the history of the industry to create a striking pastiche of the 80s era.

A clever reworking of the Predator franchise, 2022's Prey, a prequel co-written and directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane), is set some 250 years prior to what we thought was the alien species first arrival opposite human beings on Earth. Set in the vast Great Plains in 1719, the story follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young Comanche woman who has been trained as a healer, though not so secretly yearns to be a hunter. Overshadowed by her successful bow and arrow wielding brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers), she uses whatever free time she has to continue training at the useful skill. It is worth noting that the familial relationship is nicely crafted, not simply one of brutish sibling rivalry (like we’ve seen in other motion pictures), instead holding within it a nuanced combination of direct competition, hunting mentorship, and much needed cooperation.

What looks to be the closing note of Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua’s trilogy (a rare thing for both men, as these are the only sequels they’ve ever done), The Equalizer 3 is a much more contemplative form of an action movie... a character with a violent past that is trying to work through it as he enters the final chapters of his life. Opening with a lengthy single take that shows the destruction that Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) can cause, it is a cinematic gem of a piece set in a baddie’s lair in Sicily... a strikingly stylized moment that leaves our lead wounded in body and soul.

What do you get when you cross Dorothy Gale with the Wicked Witch of the West? The answer may just come in the 2022 melodramatic horror film Pearl, co-written and directed by Ti West. The approximately six decade prequel to West’s homage to the early years of the slasher subgenre of 1970s horror with X, this rewind throws us into the life of the titular Pearl, originally the slash happy elderly woman who we now see as a young woman.

Guillermo del Toro’s first foray into the realm of film noir, 2021's Nightmare Alley brings all of the Golden Age classic charm of the Studio System along with a classic pulpy story (based off of the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham... as well as the 1947 movie adaptation), which is then fused with his own unique visual style. Following Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a drifter, or is it grifter (after all, this is a neo-noir), with a dark past, he aimlessly stumbles upon a traveling carnival... taking a day’s work, he soon after accepts an offer from owner Clem Hoatley (Willem Dafoe) to join the team – seeing it as the perfect way to disappear from his secret history.

After all these years, it is almost hard to believe that the key to success in an intricate Mission: Impossible adventure would literally be... a key. Yes, that is the all important piece that must be gathered in the seventh feature of the long running franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One... with the bookend making its way into theatres in approximately one year. Co-written and helmed once more by Christopher McQuarrie (this is his third straight effort), it is quite clear that he has the formula down to a tee. Deftly fusing high stakes action, sight-seeing adventure, perfect comedic timing, and enough drama to keep even the more serious viewers involved, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) finds himself in a, dare I say it, even more impossible situation than ever before.