In 1918, 61 years before the events of X, Pearl, trapped on her family’s isolated Texas homestead, must tend to her infirmed 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 collide.
- Released:
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thrillers
- Stars: Mia Goth, Tandi Wright, David Corenswet, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Matthew Sunderland, Alistair Sewell, Lauren Stewart, Amelia Reid, Todd Rippon, Gabe McDonnell, Grace Acheson
- Director: Ti West
Comments
- drewvogelaar - 12 January 2023
Pearl is a Gem
Pearl was the sequel to the hit horror movie X. I fell in love with X upon first viewing it and consider it one of the finest horror movies released in 2022. So when I found out there was a sequel filmed back-to-back with X called Pearl. All I knew was that it was a prequel to X. Exploring the backstory behind the antagonist Pearl. If MaXXXine turns out well, we might have one of the best horror trilogies.
X pays homage to seventies horror movies, while Pearl takes a different approach. Pearl pays homage to films of the forties and fifties. The opening sequence, when she talks to the animals, had Wizard of Oz vibes. Then all of a sudden, a tonal shift comes out of nowhere. Unlike the original, Mia Goth only has one role; Pearl. Goth is the perfect casting for Pearl; she comes off as a sweet and innocent farm girl before you uncover the monster. Director Ti West also deserves some of the praise. His ability to take a film that could have become forgotten and make each scene memorable is incredible. Someone else who deserves tons of credit is cinematographer Eliot Rockett. Rockett makes every scene of this film beautiful. Without any of these pieces, I think the film automatically becomes worse. I can't wait to see what's in store for this franchise because I'm invested in where Maxine's story will lead.
9.5/10 Peal is a true gem. Both joyous and brutal. One of the year's best. - Poshlust - 2 January 2023
Overly cynical, but truth regardless
This film was more enjoyable to me than its predecessor, X. I won't go into spoilers, but the theme and main story of the message is life isn't fair and sometimes you get the short end of the stick and have to deal with the cards you're dealt. This theme is obviously taken to extremes compared to most others, with an insane protagonist and overall insane cast of characters. Pearl is very obviously insane and deranged, but the writing still made her somewhat of pathetic character, rather than one that is simply evil for no reason. That doesn't justify what she does, but it does somewhat still very crudely carry out the films main themes.
