Tra terrore e orrore. Il corpo liminale di Mia Goth

This article examines Mia Goth’s acting style and star persona as a signifi- cant example of the transformation of femininity in contemporary horror cinema. Drawing on film analysis, performance theory, and star studies, the essay focuses on Goth’s expressive idiolect, highlighting the body as a site of tension between vulnerability and power, terror and horror. From her early roles in auteur cinema, Goth constructs marginal and liminal cha- racters through a predominantly non-verbal performance, characterized by restrained physicality, emotional suspension, and an opaque, unsettling gaze. This acting style aligns with an anti-divistic star persona marked by a refusal of media overexposure and by an unconventional notion of beau- ty. The core of the analysis addresses Ti West’s X trilogy, interpreted as a metacinematic reflection on the gaze and the desire for visibility. Through the dual roles of Maxine and Pearl, Goth subverts the traditional final girl trope and embodies a liminal body that traverses and destabilizes the boundaries between victim and monster, turning horror into a space of aesthetic and political tension.