Grade: B-
The trailer for Pearl makes a big deal out of it being a prequel and origin story, but doesn’t come right out and tell us what movie it’s setting up. They assume it’s obvious (it’s not), and we already know (many don’t). Earlier this year, a film called X came out, which I vaguely remembered hearing about. Pearl is X’s precursor. This series doesn’t have the recognition, notoriety, or clout to overconfidently tout itself in trailers, without any clarity or background info. This isn’t exactly Marvel.
Set in 1979, X is a slasher horror/comedy about a handful of aspiring adult film stars staying in the “guest barn” on an elderly couple’s farm in rural Texas, to film their movie. Most of these characters don’t make it off the farm. The old couple – Pearl and Howard – have something to do with that. I watched X recently, in preparation for Pearl. I ended up enjoying X a little bit. It unapologetically and successfully leaned into the campy late 70s hardcore slasher exploitation feel.
28 year old actress Mia Goth played Pearl at age 80+ in X. And now, she appears in Pearl as 20-something Pearl. The year is 1918. The Spanish Flu pandemic is going strong, causing people to isolate and wear masks when out in public. Pearl’s husband Howard is off fighting in the war. Pearl lives with her parents in the same house from X, where she helps take care of her wheelchair-ridden father, who is rendered mute. Her aspirations of being a traveling dancer/chorus girl are more than just dreams – they are near-obsessions. She practices and puts on shows for the animals in the barn. She has murderous tendencies. It starts with animals smaller than her, like chickens. Then other killings start happening.
Filmed in beautiful Technicolor with lush orchestral music underscoring almost all the time, Pearl has a Wizard of Oz vibe. Beginning a film well doesn’t seem to be writer/director Ti West’s strong suit. Both X and Pearl are bottom-heavy. After a routine first half where I’d patiently wait for the other shoe to inevitably drop, finally it kicks into gear with some exciting stuff. There’s a neat lighting trick at a tense scene at the dinner table. There are shadows over Pearl’s mother’s eyes, so it often looks like she has large black empty eye sockets. Mia Goth has the kind of commitment as an actress that will one day get her some award nominations. She does an amazing lengthy monologue, where she is surprisingly forthright about what she’s done, and why. It’s an uninterrupted close-up, and feels like several minutes long. And the much-written-about final shot is worth seeing, or at least reading about.
We get a post-credits teaser trailer for a movie called MaXXXine – set in 1985. I have just told you all the information we’re given. Ti West reminds me of Rob Zombie, in that when he eventually gets to the point, his films contain excellent things. Rather than try to make lightning strike twice, he plays around with different styles. With X and Pearl, this – so far – is a series worth some attention and interest.
Grade: B-
Film Reviews by Mark 
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