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
- RavenGlamDVDCollector - 19 June 2024
well-filmed excrement
Doesn't matter how you look at it, this picture, although sumptuously filmed, only reflects the sick society in which we live in. That stuff like this can be allowed. Do any piece of film with a hint of sexual allure in it... public outcry! Ban it off our screens! But violence and gore... aw, that's just good-natured fun.
I suggest to anybody who doesn't have a cast-iron stomach to take along a barf bag.
Great marketing opportunity. Stand outside the theater, selling your product. "Getcha PEARL barf bag here! Getcha PEARL barf bag here!"
Believe me, you're gonna have satisfied customers. They're gonna thank you for having been there in their hour of need.
Rent yourself a good porn movie. One with plenty of XXX action. It's wholesome. - aleubean - 30 May 2024
Off-kilter but weirdly striking
Instantly, with its over-the-top soundtrack, something akin to cheesy melodramas from the 50s, the film doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Sprinkled with references to What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, Carrie, Hush..Hush Sweet Charlotte, and Psycho, it aims to feel important while also skirting the edges of campiness. The producers seem to be having personal fun and, at moments, it feels like nothing more than a love project. Yet, there is quality buried in a few scenes and a bit of a budget not to snuff at. The gore pretty much waits for the third act but it isn't too off-putting. In fact, some of it is very well done. If there was anything confusing or vaguely explained, is Pearl's motive. Its handed off as a life-long frustration of being trapped in a repressive world. Yet, she seems so well-adjusted and even likeable that it feels hokey when she goes off the deep end. You may never love this film to view it twice but the scene where Goth reveals her ugly secrets to her sister-in-law is nothing less than stunning. A small film that I will keep in my pocket of interest. - bydariopoggi - 20 April 2024
In years full of horror mediocrity, be a "Pearl"
In more than a decade of below-mediocrity horror movies, be "Pearl". Even Oscar-worthy, for both the picture itself and Mia Goth's performance.
A movie that is able to tell a story by narrating the characters' contexts and by depicting the process they went through through a relatively slow, yet intriguing storytelling. Each character's main goal, perspective was in contrast with the other until the frustration reaches its climax and the horror starts unfolding.
A horror that builds up from Mia Goth's character frustration hovering over through the entirety of the story about her life and her dreams, through her character's mother severe, traditional discipline that also winds up in equal frustration about a life that did not end up in the way she had initially hoped.
Frustration, upon frustration. That's when the real horror settles in, when Mia Goth's character just simply can't take it anymore and she can't see reason anymore - if she ever did.
A horror picture that does not include supernatural elements, and that therefore leaves you with a sense of terror that you can indeed feel and almost be directly scared of in the way it unfolds, in the relatively simplicity it just happens.
And, finally, almost as a bonus, we get one of the best monologues you will ever hear in a movie, let alone in a horror one.
She is "a star" after all. Mia Goth, that is... And we don't often see icons as her in the horror genre. - simonwoodwrites - 4 January 2023
Amazing But Not Enjoyable
This prequel to X is so much better than X. The story's focus is tighter. Visually, it looks fantastic. The vivid colors make this film look awesome. Mia Goth in the title role and Tandi Wright as her mother do amazing work. As others have mentioned there's a Psycho and Wizard of Oz vibe to the whole thing. I liked the parallels between the characters of Pearl in this film and Maxine in X. The pacing is a little slow. The monologue at the end is great but it's way too long. All that said, as much as Pearl is an amazing and absorbing film, I didn't enjoy it. I didn't care for Pearl as a character and her story. That meant there was nothing entertaining about the film. - dellamorte-82282 - 24 December 2022
Decent
X was a good film. Not wholly original and the main villain is ok. It's not on the level of other slasher films or icons but it's a honest attempt at new material. X of course is the loose "sequel" to this film PEARL. Or this film Pearl is a "prequel" of that film (depending on viewer perspective). Ingenious in the sense that it practically allows one's own knowledge and viewing to inform the tales optimum delivery method. The performances are the real stand out here despite everything else. As well as X the performances elevate mediocre material into something stellar. Once learning it was written in part by the actress Goth however I was a little deflated in the sense that the genius delivery this actress sometimes shows was not innately spontaneous (personal speculation) like X. Goth may have wrote the part specifically with candor/inflections etc that the actress felt confident in visualizing. Some of the creativity there is muddied not irrevocably mind you but enough to un-suspend your disbelief as a viewer or at least my own. - laurentiubarzoi - 11 December 2022
AMAZING ACTRESS / OSCAR
Amazing film, with an exceptional performance by Mia Goth. I think this role and her approach are revolutionary. Everything was impeccable, from the natural light in the rooms of the house to the suggested dirt on the clothes. To be honest, in this movie Mia won me over, it was a pleasure to see her in such a role. It is a pleasure to take part of the birth of a leading actress in the cinema world. She should definitely receive an Oscar for this role. (reminds me of Charilze Theron in the movie Monster from 2003, in which she easily won an Oscar, with an exceptional performance). Well done Mia, let's see you in as many movies as possible! - brchthethird - 27 November 2022
Solid genre filmmaking, an improvement over 'X'
Liked this a good deal more than last year's X, and that had a lot to do with this being a much more character-focused story than that one. Of course, you still have the pitch perfect stylistic homages that have characterized Ti West's other work. While X went for a grungy 1970's aesthetic, this one (to me, at least) goes for a Classic Hollywood feel. The colors really pop, and the score isn't too far off from what one might hear in a Douglas Sirk melodrama or Alfred Hitchcock thriller. However, what really sets this apart from its predecessor is a 7 or 8-minute monologue by Mia Goth done mostly in a single, closeup take. You may not like Pearl as a person, but you can't say you don't understand or sympathize with her predicament. And Mitzi's reaction face afterwards was pretty much what mine was watching it. And unlike X, this is one I can see myself returning to in the future. My second favorite Ti West film, coming in after House of the Devil. - kuzu420 - 21 November 2022
Slow going OVERRATED drama
The whole story wasn't very interesting. I was expecting more action, more killing scenes. It was simple, too simple as one of 2022, and slow going. Everything was predictable. Nothing special. Actors made a good job but it was badly directed and edited. Maybe if you want to feel a real atmosphere of 1918, but nothing more. I am a real horror fan and this one is actually far far away from the real horror movies, well there was a few bloody scenes, but nothing different, nothing impressive, nothing important. I feel like i just wasted time while watching this. I was hoping to see something impressive, something new. Maybe i became too picky or it was just a bad movie.
