Pearl (2022), created by Ti West and co-written by Mia Goth, comes to theatres as an origin movie for the previously released X (2022). Filmed back to back in New Zealand during the global pandemic, the prequel takes place during World War One and the influenza pandemic. The movie acts as a prequel about Pearl, the killer in the movie X(2022). Here, audiences meet a young version of the woman. It shows how she grew up on her farm and how it led to her becoming the character audiences see in X.
The audience meets Pearl when she has already taken to harming animals (feeding them to a swamp crocodile was not something my vegan heart wanted to see) and is toying with thoughts of harming other people, too. To dive right into it, my main issue with this movie was that there was not enough correlation between the two Pearls that the audience knows.
Elderly Pearl’s core motivation is to be desired, while young Pearl yearns to escape her farm life for one full of glitz and glamour. We see how Pearl’s dreams became dashed, and we see her first human kill, but ultimately I wished the movie hinted more at what would become of the character. I have never watched a movie and thought, “wow, I wish I saw more of the guy character,” but something that was missing for me was that we did not see her husband until the very end of the movie. If you have watched X then you know that Howard (the husband) stays with Pearl and even kills for her, so I really thought his reactions to her killing would be interesting along with exploring their dynamic.
I am not the biggest horror fanatic, but this writer does love a good A24 production. Yet, for some reason there were times when I expected more gore (like X) and had to remind myself that the artful kills seemed inspired by the toned down “obscenities” due to the film censorship laws of the early twentieth century.
Some things the film does great are the acting, the musical score, and the connections to previous instalment X (there is a line where they talk about how pornographic movies are the future, which is a call back to the original movie). Something I noticed straight away was how I really did feel as though I was watching a movie made in the early twentieth century. My mind kept thinking Pearl is Wizard of Oz if it was a horror movie where Dorothy murdered her family instead of flying away on a tornado. So, it was very interesting to learn that the latter was an inspiration.
I’ve said it before and will say it again; to me, feminine rage is all the rage. Pearl is completely unhinged, both as a character and in the movie. No one could deliver this role as amazing as Mia Goth did. The true dedication and care she has for the character of Pearl bleeds through the screen. She is the leading lady in the flick, and she ties it all together amazingly well. I believe the movie wouldn’t be as good as it is without her. Her monologue in the final act of the movie where the audience finally sees her inner thoughts, feelings, and motivation is so powerful and raw it made me forget I was watching the villain. I also found that the film feels heavily retro, but the movie does not rely on this to make it good. Instead it merely enhances the picture.
Altogether, Pearl will not answer every question viewers may have about the titular character. It may even leave audiences with more than before. It falls short on the expansion of characters we know for the introduction of newcomers that only serve as kills. The gore at times also feels less bloody and more cartoonish. This movie is made for people that value storytelling and artful direction just as much as (or even more than) they do horror, and I am not complaining about that. Mia Goth delivers a character that audiences cannot help but love no matter how happy, sad, or altogether crazy she is. Despite its flaws, Ti West has captured lightning in a bottle for the second time.
Eva Davey is a UFV student majoring in English Literature and minoring in Media Communications. She is a fan of poetry, oat milk lattes, and the final girl trope. Currently, her worst enemy is the Good Reads app.
