With the stage set in A24’s X, Ti West looks to continue the story of Maxine and her fame-crazed counterpart by looking back to yesteryear with the second film in the horror trilogy, Pearl: An X-traordinary Origin Story. As a prequel to the first film, Pearl takes audiences back to when the villain of X was just a young girl hoping to become a star and the barriers she faces to achieving that goal. In a film reminiscent of the classic movie The Wizard of Oz in visuals and story, this prequel explores the impact of getting lost in a dream and the lengths people will go to achieve their goals, especially when they have nothing to use.
Switching out the slasher sub-genre for psychological horror, Ti West, who directed and co-wrote the film with star Mia Goth, doesn’t look to retread the same beats and ideas that it explored in the first movie. Instead, Pearl looks to take audiences on a technicolor dream through the psyche and origins of the old lady who terrorizes a group of porn stars decades later. Their vision is clear, as this film serves as a love letter to a generation of film that has long been lost, with a story that is structured beautifully, as the tragic spiral of Pearl’s psyche plays out on stage for all to see.
She just wants to be a star, so wouldn’t she be excited to know that her origin story is the best chapter in this A24 trilogy? It’s time to shine a well-deserved spotlight on Pearl and examine her path to stardom.
[Warning: spoilers from Pearl are below!]
Twisted family dynamics leads to disaster in A24’s Pearl
Pearl (Goth) will remind almost anyone who will listen that she wants to be a star, but her reality is far from ideal for that. Living on a farm in the middle of Texas in 1918 isn’t exactly the epicenter of stage and screen, but she’s determined to make her dreams come true one way or another. However, there are so many hurdles in the way, beginning and ending with her parents and their harsh personalities.
Having immigrated from Germany, her parents don’t understand the vanity and desire of wanting to be a movie or stage star. Instead, her mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright), is strict in her rules and cruel to her daughter. While Pearl is living on the farm, having come home while waiting for her husband to return from the war, she’s expected to take care of her incapacitated father (Matthew Sunderland). Isolated from the rest of the world to safeguard from the Spanish Influenza, these three are cycling through generations of family dysfunction.
Constantly chastised for her dreams of being a movie star or chorus girl, Pearl has developed some psychopathic tendencies. She’s not quite right, but after years of emotional and verbal abuse from her mother, we can see and understand where this has come from. So how exactly is Pearl to escape the broken system? With the promises of something better.
While visiting a neighboring town, Pearl meets a projectionist (David Corenswet) at a local cinema, who opens up a new world for the young woman. Allowing her to sit inside the projection booth, Pearl sees a version of her life playing out in front of her with each actress walking across the screen. With a taste of what could be, Pearl’s reality becomes more of a barrier to her dreams, and she needs a way out ASAP. Hearing from her sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) that auditions for new dancers are coming to their town, Pearl decides that the time is now, but first, she will have to rid herself of her family once and for all.
A technicolor world of horror comes to life in Pearl
Pearl has the unique job of being the middle film in a horror trilogy that serves as a prequel and a breath of fresh air between the opening and closing movies. Even though all three of these films are directly connected, X and MaXXXine feel more closely related to each other than Pearl because of their grittiness. Both films are rooted in dark realism, with a slasher/noir feel. They explore the seed underbelly of a world we’re all familiar with to some degree as we follow Maxine as she begins her journey to fame through pornography. Sure, many of us haven’t experienced the extremes this character has, but these are ideas we’ve all encountered before.
However, the world of Pearl feels fantastical, thanks to the technicolor feel that West and Goth gave to this film. As soon as the film begins, it feels like we’re almost removed from any sense of realism and transported to the film world of yesteryears. Like a dark and twisted The Wizard of Oz instead of a film that takes place in the same world as X or MaXXXine. That sets the film apart from the rest, almost serving as a reprieve from the borderline stomach-turning films that bookend the trilogy.
Utilizing the technicolor approach almost makes the film comedic because it changes how we view Pearl as a person and the actions she takes. Yes, the film is still chock full of murder and psychotic behavior, but it’s done in a way that honors the legacy of an older style of film. One moment in particular, when Pearl is chasing down her sister-in-law, I found myself chuckling at its ridiculousness, but in a way that made me love the film even more.
This isn’t your typical approach to horror, as many assume that this genre has to be dark and spooky, but instead, Pearl shows us that horror can come from a world rich in color and vibrant in characters and narrative. Pearl is terrifying because it shows the horrors that real people can provide. The scary nature of abuse and the impacts that it can have on someone, which, in my opinion, will always be more frightening than just a typical slasher film. It gives Pearl more depth, which is unexpected from a villain of a horror franchise.
Pearl is shining example of how fun horror can be
Pearl is a breath of fresh air amongst the horror films we’ve been getting lately. It embraces a direction and vibe that isn’t typical for this genre and utilizes it perfectly. Pearl has such a distinct feel that distances itself from anything on the market, including the other two films in the trilogy. You can easily watch this film as a one-off and still enjoy it; however, it is enhanced by seeing where Pearl’s story ends in the film before it. So grab your friends and set off to see Pearl, a star on the horizon waiting to be discovered.
Pearl is now streaming on Netflix.
Learn more about the film, including how to stream it, on the Netflix site for the title.
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