Pearl

She-Joker. Meticulously crafted in psychological terms, Pearl is an interesting and polished profile of an unstable asocial that crosses the same boundaries that the award-winning hit with Joaquin Phoenix did. The setting with a hillbilly family in a house in rural Texas is even more appealing to me. In fact, Ti West suggests here how idyllic the origins of other famous Texas families could have looked... The kitschy fairy-tale-like retro-stylization contrasts with the dark tones of the soundtrack, indicating the presence of a hidden evil and gradually paving the way for the outburst of that evil. The main character delights fans of the genre not only with a pitchfork and axe in hand, but also with a long one-shot confession about her own shattered mental state. Mia Goth is great. And the audiovisual flashes of Kubrick and Hitchcock... Pearl is a formalistic delight for those who are interested. (06.11.2022)

Some people say that a film is as good as its villain, and, Pearl is a perfect example. Mia Goth is amazing, on a small space she can play a naive girl, a broken woman, a demon-ridden bitch and a total psychopath, she has all of that in her acting register. Her almost ten-minute confession at the end, filmed in one take, blew my mind. Moreover, it's all supported by a script that flows naturally, has a logical development and almost reaches the level of Phoenix's Joker in terms of psychology. And the visual games with the camera, the opening with classical music in the style of good old Hollywood! I'm just shocked that after the botched X, Ti West was able to create something like this. This is a little horror treat, made with love and art, aimed at film connoisseurs. (26.06.2023)

A treat, but be prepared for it to be a completely different film than X. While the first film in the series referenced dirty exploitation classics, this one is more of a beautifully colourful naive drama, with nasty perversion and depravity bubbling under the surface. Mia Goth in the lead role is great, pulling it off with aplomb, the clear highlight of the film being her lengthy monologue shortly before the end. For me, compared to X, weaker as horror, but better as a film. (21.10.2022)

After the great X comes a steep fall that leaves bitter aftertaste. Ti West isn't my favourite director, in fact X is the only film I liked from him, so I was definitely curious about the prequel and the original villains, and the rave reviews overseas indicated it was going to be a hit, but here comes quite a disappointment. It's a bit hard to judge because Pearl definitely has its qualities, but from a horror perspective it's a big bummer. X gave a flashback to the hixploitation films of a bygone era, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in particular came to mind for everyone, it had juicy gore, creepy bad guys and soft porn in the first half. Pearl unfortunately has none of that and goes in a different direction, which will no doubt disappoint most viewers. Let's summarize the pros first. The setting in the wartime period of 1918 is nice, a very unusual time for a horror film, so welcome. Mia Goth gives the performance of a lifetime, she's good, psychologically disturbed, believable and able to command attention. The dialogue is also engaging and the cinematography isn't bad either, but that's it unfortunately. If this was a drama, it would be a decent film that is well made and acted, but horror fans will get nothing here. No hint of atmosphere, no gore?!! Okay, that one scene at the end it’s not enough. It's neither creepy nor dark, in fact ‘horror’ seems to me to be a misnomer. It's a psychological study of a disturbed girl in an unconventional period and if you accept that you might be OK, but for my taste it was a heavy slow burn drama and I certainly not what I was expecting. The five-minute monologue and the family dinner during the storm (quite possibly the best scene of the film) was interesting. 5/10. (21.10.2022)

After the fairly accomplished retro slasher X, Ti West delivers a Technicolor nightmare that absolutely works in its (intentional) kitsch. Unlike the previous film, Pearl is not predictable and avoids genre tropes, and Mia Goth proves once again that she is an incredibly energetic presence in contemporary genre cinema. (28.05.2023)

X wasn't exactly stellar, so I didn't set my expectations high for this prequel, only to be pleasantly surprised in the end. While I can't say I was thrilled, I must admit that Ti West delivered a significantly better piece of work this time. I hesitate to label this movie as a horror with a clear conscience; it felt more like a dive into the psyche of an unconventional American country girl, struggling with her ambitions and other issues. Not that she put much effort into fighting them back, mind you. There was definitely an improvement compared to the previous/next film, mainly because I didn't feel the need to hit the fast-forward button this time. I wonder if Mia Goth's involvement in the screenplay contributed to this improvement; it certainly seemed that way from my perspective. But who's to say for sure, right? I would easily tack on an extra star, but the creators shouldn't be so overconfident. They really ought to bring in some advisors on handling an axe during filming. Watching Pearl, who's supposedly lived her whole life on a farm, handle an axe like a virgin was painful. The same person could probably explain to the crew that an axe blade leaves distinct marks on the human body, unlike those made by a surgical saw. Yep, the devil's in the details. / Lesson learned: If you're using farm tools to chase your dreams, you're probably going too far. (27.10.2023)

While West's previous film X leaned on the atmosphere of 70s slasher and porn films, its prequel Pearl is a homage to classic Hollywood, combining the dark tale of the protagonist's descent into madness with the aesthetics of colourful Technicolor melodramas and live-action Disney films from the 50s. It features a boisterous orchestral score, overwrought musical numbers and artificially picturesque scenery, but it also gradually breaks down Hollywood glitz and subverts the conventions of the aforementioned films, like in the the way the main character treats the animals. The story can be seen as a wacky variation on The Wizard of Oz. Pearl is a lonely farmer girl who dances and talks to the animals on a fairy-tale farm and dreams of becoming a big Hollywood star instead of cleaning up cow poop. But circumstances force her to stay in a depressing reality (and have sex with a scarecrow in a field). Over time, her unfulfilled fairy-tale dreams of a world "over the rainbow" have terrifying consequences, and Pearl transforms from "Dorothy" to "the Wicked Witch." This is no gorefest full of scares, but an old-fashioned psychodrama with long takes and carefully crafted mise-en-scene. The film has even been praised by Martin Scorsese himself, who has said that the love of cinema can be felt in every frame. And it really is a treat for cinephiles. The main driving force is once again Mia Goth's performance. Her ability to play a seamless transition from a sweetly naive farm girl to a bloodthirsty murderous psychopath is unparalleled. The climactic final scene then builds to her long monologue, which is shot almost entirely in one unbroken take. (16.11.2023)