If you want to see fairytale pictures like those from old Hollywood with rough splatter inserts, you should definitely get a cinema ticket for Pearl. Ti West’s new film is the prelude to X, which we already ranked among the best horror films of the past year. While the first part as a Texas twist was a love letter to the genre films of the 70s, Pearl goes much further.
As weird Mixture of classic Hollywood movies, technicolor musicals and evil B-movie spikes the second part of this horror universe, which has now been expanded into a trilogy, is a special viewing experience. To top it off, Mia Goth’s best acting performance to date, one of the most exciting horror stars of the moment.
Pearl fascinates as a wild genre mix with an Oscar-ready star performance
West’s prequel takes place in 1918, when a small town in the United States is reeling from World War I and the Spanish flu. Here the young Pearl (Goth) lives isolated with her strict mother on a farm, where they take care of her seriously ill father. Pearl prefers to dream of becoming a Hollywood star and escapes into seductive film worlds by going to the cinema during trips to the city. But there are other fantasies that keep haunting Pearl…
Ti West shot the prequel right after X without notice, but the film couldn’t be more stylistically different from the first part. Pearl looks like an old Hollywood movie from the 30s or 40s, while the scenes are brightly colored and the score is often reminiscent of emotional melodramas.
The prequel was inspired not only by a (very bizarre) scarecrow scene from The Wizard of Oz, but at least as much by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. West’s film quickly turns out to be the same tragic and psychotic character study the main character, who loses her mind at the hands of her mother’s severe oppression.
A24
Pearl
The later explosions of violence are not only shocking, but sometimes even touching. The reason is Mia Goth’s fantastic performance in the title role, which between childishly naive and disturbingly menacing switches back and forth and shows a true tour de force of stormy acting.
If you haven’t seen X yet, you can watch Pearl as a prequel without any prior knowledge!
After Pearl, the horror universe continues in the porn industry
After X and Pearl, the third part of this great horror universe will be released in 2024. MaXXXine revolves around the main character from the first part, who is also played by Mia Goth. After the traumatic events of X, she wants to make it big in the porn industry in 80’s Los Angeles.
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