Pearl
In 1918 at the height of the Spanish Flue Pandemic, a young woman Pearl moves back in with her German parents on their farm in Texas, while her husband Howard is fighting overseas.
Her mother is hard working due to her father’s severe illness and infirmary. They live in solitude, due to the pandemic.
As the months go on, her mother’s apathetic attitude towards Pearl; her ambitions for fame, even her time in town making friends, start to weigh on her.
Will Pearl’s blood lust, which involves killing small animals increase… into something, more severe?
Direction
Directed by Ti West, this was filmed simultaneously with X, and was the second film in what would become a trilogy ending with MaXXXine.
Starting with a ‘classical’ movie opening with the opening credits, accompanied by a similar themed score ( by Tyler Bates and Tim Williams).
This feel follows through the entire film, with great use of frame cuts, and dissolves from one scene to another.
Cast/Characters
Mia Goth plays Pearl, bringing the character from X back, this time in her youth. Goth also co-wrote the film with director West.
Tandi Wright plays Ruth, her strict German born mother.
David Corenswet plays ‘The Projectionist’, who she befriends in the local town.
Matthew Sunderland, plays her father, who is confined to a wheelchair, and is unable to communicate.
Amelia Reid-Meredith plays Mitzi, Pearl’s sister in law.
Breakdown
Unlike the sister film, this is more about Pearl’s backstory. She has been called back to her family farm by her mother, as her father is seriously ill.
Her husband Howard (who we also meet in X) is off fighting in the war, and the US is currently in the midst of the Spanish Flu Pandemic (ironically the world itself was going through the C19 Pandemic while being filmed).
This plays an important part of the film as her mother is terrified of either catching it, or having it infect her already seriously ill husband. She is constantly treating Pearl terribly before and after Pearls trips to town for supplies; either due to Pearl ‘spending too much time’ or too much money.
Pearl is desperate for more with her life, and has put her name forth to audition for a play, along with Howard’s sister Missy. This is another source of contention for her mother who cannot fathom why one could put themselves before their duties.
Pearl, has also befriended the towns cinema Projectionist (who is nameless throughout the film), who introduces her to ‘new wave’ adult films. They have a brief affair, that ends… quite sharply…
A series of events, her mothers constant apathy, make her ‘snap’ and go on a murder spree. The ‘spiral’ happens too quickly, with her blood lust really only hinted about early on with killing small animals. But when it does, it is in the similar fashion of what we see in X.
Goth is simply fantastic, with the ability to portray absolute heartbreak (her monologue to Mitzy), absolute terror (her scenes with the projectionist) and hilarity (her dance sequences).
The gore is less intense than X, and this is more about relationships, and how the fragility of war travels all the way back to those at home.
Overall
Solid enough ‘second’ entry in the trilogy, which helps have an understanding of who Pearl was before the night that occurs in X.
Great performances save this from a lower score. Goth deserves all the love and recognition she will likely get in her career.
4/5