Pearl

You'll know from reading my X review of this fun, secret trilogy from Ti West, that I found the starter film to be...fine. It didn't stand out to me all that much aside from Mia Goth's performance and - perhaps anecdotally - it seems others would agree. 

Consistently, I've been told Pearl is a gem. A tour de force from Mia Goth and an impressive "old-time" film with all the staples and flairs of films that came along right when technicolor was invented. 

Largely, I'd agree. Pearl is a much more special film than X and somewhat retroactively makes that film better - though I still don't have total answers for why Granny is so damn h***y!

Pearl is a prequel of that elderly killer in X, detailing her dark relationship with her parents and her conflict with a husband that's off at war, all while wanting to be a starlet. Thanks to a simple, but effective screenplay, the character's darkness becomes clearer and clearer in a story that's compelling, shocking, and a bit out there. 

The entire movie steals inspiration from some of the oldest color films in cinema, not only with title credits and such, but with camera work, color palettes, and audio work. It's not totally stuck in 1918 (the year the film is set), but enough to where the stylish components are more apparent than they were in its predecessor and thus, more effective. These "simpler methods" contrast the much more complex and mature story in sometimes humorous ways as Pearl goes off the rails and this turns into much more of a mental thriller than actual horror. 

Mia Goth turns in a tremendous performance, the best I've seen from her, as a naive, young, immature, and deeply troubled woman. Pearl is going through a lot emotionally and mentally, feeling trapped at the family farm with a disabled vegetable of a father and a scrutinizing mother. She wants to escape and feels everything coming to a boiling point as she lives on the fringes of crazy. In an early scene we see her kill a goose with a rake and feed it to the lake alligator. So yeah...she's not doing well! Goth's performance toes the line of innocent and crazy in impressive fashion with a monologue near the end that's easily one of the best from 2022. Goth has been elevating these films substantially, so I'll be intrigued to see how she pushes the upcoming MaxXxine too. 

Nope. Not crazy at all!

I may not be as high on this film series as some others, but Pearl is the best of the two (thus far) by a decent margin and has me invested enough to see the finale this summer. The entire idea of a secret trilogy separated by many decades is a blast by itself, so it's worth supporting films like this when they try to do something special, especially when it's something as original and unique as Pearl. 

Retro Rath's Review Score | 8/10