Pearl (2022) spoiler free review

Back in March Ti West slasher X arrived to theaters and became part of the best horror films of the year. But, what really surprised the audience was the post-credit scene, a teaser trailer of a prequel called Pearl with Mia Goth reprising her role. Now just 6 months later that prequel has been released on theaters. This film is written by West and Goth with the score composed by Tyler Bates (X, John Wick 3, Guardians of the Galaxy).

Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Hoping for a more glamorous life, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations and repressions all collide to horrific effect.

Film synopsis

The first teaser was played at the SXSW Film Festival 2022 with the first trailer being released in July 2022 with the tagline of “an X-traordinary Origin Story”, being a reference to the previous installment. Pearl was shot in secret after X filming concluded using the same set but modified to fit the time period, late 1910s, and story. West stated in an interview that Pearl was inspired by Hollywood’s Golden Age, a detail that can be noticed from the trailer alone. Just like X resembled Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 Pearl resembles the classic musical fantasy film Wizard of Oz by the similar use of technicolor and filming techniques.

Ti West has done it again, #PearlMovie is a colorful slasher with an amazing score and gore that you don’t want to miss. Mia Goth’s performance is exceptional, can’t wait to see her on MaXXXine.

— Confessions of a Horror Freak (@_amandamunoz) September 16, 2022

Mia Goth (X, Suspiria) reprised her role as a younger Pearl. The cast also included David Corenswet (We Own This City) as The Projectionist, Tandi Wright (The Returned) as Ruth, Matthew Sunderland (Out of the Blue) as Pearl’s Father, Emma Jenkins-Purro (The Brokenwood Mysteries) as Mitzy, and Alistair Sewell (The Power of the Dog) as Howard.

My opinion

After X ended I was heavily surprised to see, not only a post-credit scene, but a teaser trailer of a prequel. It’s the type of situation where you can leave the film just like that or expand the story. On the particular case of Pearl is a prequel that wasn’t asked but it was needed. Been able to create a whole film just about the origin story of a slasher villain after the success of the fist film is a risk. But we can say that it was totally worth it. The biggest factor is that West wrote the story with that intention, he didn’t just invented the prequel to earn more money. Instead he created a slasher story that has the potential to be divided into several movies creating a modern slasher franchise.

While Pearl feels more like a psychological drama horror movie, and not as slasher as X is, it’s able to deliver good gore sequences and disturbing moments. But, the key piece on the film is Mia Goth. Here she emerges herself completely in the role giving and outstanding performance with a one-shot monologue that shows why she was the right person for the part. I can’t imagine another actress playing Pearl or Maxine, and I hope to see Goth on more horror projects in the future.

Pearl is a colorful slasher with a good score, gore, and performances that you don’t want to miss. Now playing on theaters.

The future of the franchise

Back on Tuesday September 13, 2022 it was released on the official social media platforms of A24 a teaser trailer of the upcoming sequel of X called MaXXXine. This film will follow Maxine’s journey into Hollywood on 1985 with Mia Goth returning. West stated that this sequel will explore another horror sub-genre and the development of home video release. While there’s not much revealed we can be sure that this story is far from being over and we could be seeing the rise of a good and successful slasher franchise.