20 Best Horror Movie Final Girls of the 2020s (So Far)

When Ti West's X came totally out of nowhere in early 2022, few could've ever anticipated how it would spawn a trilogy of horror films centered around the sheer brilliance of Mia Goth.

Horror tropes typically dictate that a character like Maxine Minx shouldn't be long for his world, with "aspiring porn actress" being among the most dangerous professions one could possibly undertake in a slasher film.

But Maxine is a smart and very welcome reversal of the genre's tendency to punish the sexually active - she doesn't pass the traditional "purity" tests, but still makes it to the end of the movie, defeating her aged aggressor Pearl (also played by Goth under heavy makeup) in satisfyingly brutal fashion.

Goth of course played a younger Pearl in the eponymous follow-up, and while trilogy-capper MaXXXine brought the series to an underwhelming climax, Goth still managed to cement Maxine's status as a ruthlessly ambitious survivor.