Pearl: Bravo, Mia and Ti. Bravo!
Contains spoilers!
Pearl is the origin story of the killer we see in X (2022). Mia Goth reprises her role as the titular character and delivers a powerhouse performance of a woman that is simultaneously insane and vulnerable yet, to an extent, sympathetic. Directed by Ti West, the film follows Pearl, whose desire to be a movie star leads to a descent into madness and murder.
It's easy to see how Pearl in this film becomes the character we later/have already seen in X. Having seen X first, we know this is a character primarily motivated by the one thing we, as humans, crave: love and affection. Her mother Ruth (Tandi Wright) rules the house with an iron fist, showing little interest in her daughter's aspirations. Her father (Matthew Sutherland) is paralyzed and using a wheelchair; on a side note, her father is one of the best characters in the film. He's unable to speak but says so much with just his eyes and facial expressions. Her husband Howard (Alistar Sewell) has gone to fight in the trenches of WWI. Every chance Pearl has to escape her farm fails to pan out, leaving her frustrated and upset.
When Pearl tries out for a touring chorus, the scene shifts to a much higher production, complete with backdrops, side dancers, and sound effects. It's something we've all been through. We come up on an important audition or interview, and we think we've nailed it, just blown the viewer's mind. When the interviewers tell Pearl she didn’t make it, it brings her to tears, and it's a moment that hits close to home, made worse when the people rejecting her take the forms of her mother, father, and various others that've told her "You're not good enough for this, despite your ambitions."
In the climax of the film, Pearl delivers a seven-minute monologue, in which she confesses to her sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) all of what she's done: the murders of her father and a projectionist (David Corenswet), her mother's death, and all the rage and resentment she's feeling. Though some viewers may find it long, I was hanging off her every word.
If I were to offer one piece of criticism, it would be this. The film is set in 1918, during the Spanish flu pandemic. It hits a little too hard on the head that "Hey, we thought of this during a pandemic!"
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, even more so than X. I hope that MaXXXine (2024, the final installment in this trilogy) is just as good as its predecessors. If so, then this is a damn good trilogy that deserves more word of mouth and is sure to bring a smile to future fans.
Cast
Mia Goth as Pearl
David Corenswet as the projectionist
Tandi Wright as Ruth
Matthew Sutherland as Pearl's father
Emma Jenkins-Purro as Mitsy
