Pearl
Ti West is making a truly unique trilogy in his “X” franchise; finally watching “Pearl” as I prepare to watch “MaXXXine,” I’m struck by how the ideas he tackles are different, but the feelings he elicits are fundamentally the same. Here, we connect the dots between the old woman who went on the murderous rampage in “X” with her younger self; having Mia Goth play both Pearl and Maxine in “X” pays of beautifully here, as we see the extreme version of Maxine in young Pearl- they both are convinced they are bound for big things. That we know one’s fate by the end of “X,” and await the others, this is one of the most compelling inversions of a horror franchise anyone has ever done.
We meet Pearl in 1918, where she lives at home with her domineering mother (Tandi Wright) and her invalid father (Matthew Sunderland). They live on a farm- seemingly, the same one Pearl is living on in “X”- and Pearl is home helping with her father while her husband, Howard (Alistair Sewell), is off to war. For a respite, Pearl goes into town and watches the pictures at the local theatre, and she gets familiar with the projectionist (David Corenswet) there. She learns of a dance audition, which her and her friend, Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro), plan on going out for. Pearl’s mother is adamantly against it, though, but there’s no stopping Pearl, and gradually, her true nature will come through.
While “X” played off of “Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s” aesthetic and unsettling energy, “Pearl” is a ’40s Americana melodrama in its gorgeous, Technicolor cinematography that turns into a psychological nightmare. In writing the screenplay, West and Goth are not afraid to have Pearl go full-tilt sociopath, at which point her sense of isolation becomes more and more profound, and her dreams get further and further away from her. Goth gives an absolute tour de force performance that is met by Wright as her mother. We’re transfixed by Goth in every scene, as her desperation to get away from this life leads to more extreme behavior. This is not intended to be horror as dark comedy but a psychological endurance test as Pearl is tested further and further by those around her. It all leads to one of the most unnerving final images ever in horror, which raises so many questions about the events of “X” that can probably be answered by simply one thing- the final character not Pearl we see alive is smart enough to know not to mess with the person she’s become.
Now that we’ve seen Pearl’s full story, I cannot wait to see Maxine’s, and how West and Goth decide to follow this film up.
