My Review of Pearl (2022)

 

Written by Ti West And Mia Goth

Directed by Ti West

Pearl: "It's not about what I want, Mitzy. It's about making the best of what I have."

Following the chaos of X, instead of jumping straight into what Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), the movie went back sixty one years to show how Pearl (Mia Goth) became the way she did. Needless to say, it's not pretty.

The first World War served as something of a backdrop as did an influenza pandemic. Our antagonistic protagonist was a married girl with her sweetheart Howard (Alistair Sewell) off fighting in the war. Pearl was at home with her sick father (Matthew Sutherland) and domineering mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright) and a lot of resentment festered.

Pearl had aspirations to be a star. Aspirations that Ruth openly criticised when she wasn't being an out and out bitch to Pearl throughout the whole movie. While Ruth would be proven right about Pearl's psychopathy, her own venomous animosity towards her daughter certainly didn't help matters. 

For the most Ruth projected too much of her own resentment and shattered dreams (she clearly hated being trapped on the farm as much as Pearl did) onto her daughter that Pearl snapping was inevitable. Ruth pushed Pearl too far and lost her life because of it. Sadly so did Pearl's father and he was genuinely innocent in the whole mess.

However making herself an orphan wasn't enough for Pearl. During the movie she managed to strike up a romance with The Projectionist (David Corenswet) but when he rejected her, she resorted to murder. Doing that, Pearl proved that she couldn't suppress her true nature as her hopes for stardom were fading fast.

Then there was the chorus audition that could've changed everything. Pearl's hatred for blondes came about because of unsympathetic judges not liking her for being plain and poor Mitzy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) also paid the price for Pearl's rage too. The same Mitzy who was Pearl's sister in law and was actually nice to her throughout the whole movie.

Then there was the last minutes of the movie where Pearl had to resign her to the fact that she was never going to be a star. She tried to make the best of it by throwing a "nice" dinner for a returning Howard. She might not be a star but at least she can put on a smile.

- I was surprised to find out that Mia Goth co-wrote the movie with Ti West. I wouldn't be surprised if she does more of this going forward.

- The end credit with the very pained smile plastered on Pearl's face was pretty horrifying in its own way.

- Why didn't Pearl get rid of that maggot filled roast pig? That was disgusting to look at.

- The stag movie The Projectionist showed Pearl was A Free Ride. Yes, it really is an actual movie.

- Standout music: Arthur Fields Oui Oui Marie.

- Chronology: 1918 rural Texas. Pearl's family were German immigrants.

I really enjoyed X as a first outing to this trilogy but Pearl clearly was the better outing. It's delightfully twisted, whimsical and tragic with a superb led performance from Mia Goth. One of the best horror films of the 2020s and here's hoping Maxxxine will close this trilogy on a satisfying note.

Rating: 9 out of 10