Pearl – Review

Pearl – Review
102 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Ti West and Mia Goth
Directed by Ti West

**NOTE: Read Mark’s review below, then listen as he and Ryan discuss this prequel to earlier-this-year’s X.**

Synopsis:

Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions all collide, in the stunning, technicolor-inspired origin story of X’s iconic villain.

When we screened X earlier this year, much was being made of the scandalous nature of it; a throwback sexploitation-horror, three young actresses whose reputations to that point weren’t based on material of that nature (Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, and Jenna Ortega). The three of them threw themselves into Ti West’s unusual film with dramatic and horrific results, however, which made X one of the standout films of early 2022.

Imagine our surprise to learn shortly thereafter that, as a consequence of filming during Covid, they had the opportunity to shoot a second film, this time centered on Pearl, the old lady from X.

As a prequel, Pearl would explain her younger life and how the horrors of the farm began.

**Make no mistake; whereas X was a pretty good split between sex and horror, Pearl is much more a true horror. I mean, there’s still sex. Ask the Scarecrow; he’ll tell you.**

A practical choice, since your equipment, crew, and star (Goth) were all present but otherwise unoccupied.

Wow. Good choice.

The prequel we didn’t know we wanted or needed when we saw X is a worthy follow-up to the first film. This time set in 1918 as the Spanish Flu is resurgent, we are reminded of Covid, but this isn’t a Covid film, by any stretch.

Pearl lives with her mother and invalid father on their farm as she awaits the return of her husband, Howard, from the war. She longs to be free of their struggling farm, but her German mother continually chides her to be cautious, not simply due to the pandemic, but because Germans aren’t generally treated well because of the war.

They are, as her mother continually reminds her, lucky to have what they have, and they need to protect it. Like most children, it will take a while for Pearl to actually understand that.

On a trip into town to buy medicine for her father (morphine), Pearl slips into the theater to watch a silent movie featuring dancers, and she dreams of being a dancer, famous and up on that screen…

…away from the farm and her mother.

She meets the handsome projectionist, because of course she does, and things develop from there.

Pearl is a slow-building exercise, simultaneously developing Pearl’s character for us as it continually devolves into madness. We see the seeds of the future very early on, though the first half of the film is fairly barren, amplifying Pearl’s sense of isolation and boredom on the farm.

By the time her desire to leave reaches a fever pitch in the second half, there is no stopping Pearl from getting what she wants.

Let’s be clear: this is Goth’s film. Credited as a writer with Ti West, one can’t help but think that many of Pearl’s more dramatic monologues and expressions of doubt and pain come directly from Goth as she embodies the pain and suffering of a woman who wants simply to be seen and loved, not hidden away, having her soul crushed.

There will now be a third movie in the X-verse, this one called MaXXXine, again starring Goth as Maxine from X, who travels to LA in the 80s to become a star.

I can’t wait to see how that turns out.

Pearl is in theaters now and stars Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Alistair Sewell, Matthew Sunderland, and Tandi Wright.

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