American film by Ti West
Pearl
|
---|
Theatrical release poster
|
Directed by
| Ti West
|
---|
Written by
| |
---|
Based on
| Characters
by Ti West
|
---|
Produced by
| |
---|
Starring
| |
---|
Cinematography
| Eliot Rockett
|
---|
Edited by
| Ti West
|
---|
Music by
| |
---|
Production
companies
| |
---|
Distributed by
| |
---|
Release dates
|
- September 3, 2022
(
2022-09-03
)
(
Venice
)
- September 16, 2022
(
2022-09-16
)
(United States)
|
---|
Running time
| 102 minutes
[2]
|
---|
Country
| United States
|
---|
Language
| English
|
---|
Budget
| $1 million
[3]
|
---|
Box office
| $10.1 million
[4]
|
---|
Pearl
(subtitled
An X-traordinary Origin Story
) is a 2022 American
psychological horror
thriller film
directed by
Ti West
, co-written by West and
Mia Goth
, who reprises her role as the
title character
, and featuring
David Corenswet
,
Tandi Wright
,
Matthew Sunderland
, and Emma Jenkins-Purro in supporting roles. A
prequel
to
X
(2022) and the second installment in the
X
film series
, it serves as an
origin story
for the title villain, whose fervent aspiration to become a movie star led her to committing violent acts on her family's Texas homestead in 1918.
West began co-writing a prequel script stemming from his collaboration with Goth while filming
X
. Motivated by the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema
, filming started in New Zealand
immediately after the first film
, using
X
sets and the
Avatar: The Way of Water
crew and taking pandemic safety precautions.
Pearl
drew inspiration from the works of
Douglas Sirk
,
Technicolor
films like
The Wizard of Oz
(1939) and
Mary Poppins
(1964), and
Disney films
. It had its world premiere at the
79th Venice International Film Festival
on September 3, 2022, and was released in theaters in the United States on September 16, 2022, by
A24
. The film grossed over $10 million and received generally positive reviews from critics, with Goth's performance receiving wide praise.
A direct sequel to
X
, titled
MaXXXine
, is scheduled to be released on July 5, 2024, with Goth reprising her second role from the first film.
Plot
[
edit
]
Pearl
is a young woman living with her parents on their farm in
Texas
, while her husband serves in the
First War
. Her father is infirm and
paralyzed
, and her mother Ruth insists that she help care for both him and the farm as they isolate themselves to protect against the
Spanish flu pandemic
. Pearl aspires to be a chorus girl or a star, which Ruth disapproves of, and chafes under the isolation. Pearl also shows signs of
psychopathy
. She abuses her father in secret and kills animals which she feeds to an alligator she nicknamed
Theda
.
One day while visiting town, Pearl meets a
projectionist
who takes a liking to her. After returning to the farm, Pearl continues to show signs of mental disturbances as she dances with a scarecrow at a cornfield and masturbates with it. During supper, Ruth berates Pearl for her behavior and withholds her food.
Pearl hears from Mitsy, her sister-in-law, of an audition to find new dancers for a troupe around the state, and envisions it as her ticket out of spending her life living on the farm and having to care for her father. She later visits the projectionist, who shows her
A Free Ride
and encourages her to pursue her dreams. Pearl comments that she cannot abandon her family and she says, "If only they would just die."
That night, Ruth and Pearl get into a argument over dinner as she reveals that she knows about Pearl visiting the movies. Pearl confesses she wants to audition and asks for Ruth's permission, to which she declares Pearl as her biggest failure. An altercation erupts during which Pearl shoves her mother against the hearth causing her dress to catch fire. As she burns, Pearl pours water into her and then drags her into the basement while leaving her father alone in the room. She then flees to the theater, where she has sex with the projectionist.
The projectionist drives Pearl home to prepare for the audition. However, he is disturbed by her sudden agitated behavior as well as the sight of a rotting pig that her mother-in-law left for Ruth the day before. As he tries to leave, Pearl erupts into a fit of rage at the abandonment and stabs him to death with a
pitchfork
. She pushes his car into a pond, where Theba eats his remains. Pearl dresses herself in one of Ruth's
Belle Epoque
gowns
and dresses up her father before smothering him to death using a pillow cover.
Pearl arrives at the church to attend the audition. She thinks her performance will impress the scouts, but is rejected for not being young or "American." Mitsy accompanies her home in an attempt to console her, which results in Pearl getting into an extensive confession regarding many things, from resentment toward her husband and having an affair to killing animals and the projectionist. Pearl then coerces a stunned Mitsy into confessing that she won the audition. As Mitsy tries to leave, Pearl chases her down the driveway and kills her with an axe.
Pearl dismembers her body and feeds the remains to Theda, then goes into the basement and lies next to Ruth's corpse. She decides to atone for her crimes by creating a home for Howard.
Howard returns and is greeted with the bodies of Pearl's parents seated at the table around the feast. Pearl greets him with a smile, saying, "I'm so happy you're home."
Cast
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
Development
[
edit
]
Ti West
began writing a script for the prequel film during production on
X
. He stated that the prequel project had developed from a story he had collaborated on with
Mia Goth
, and that he had seen it either as becoming a potential film, or simply serving as a
backstory
for Goth's role as
Pearl
in the first movie.
[5]
After the onset of the
coronavirus pandemic
, seeing its
impact on the cinema industry
, West stated that he had been inspired to continue working and had decided to begin production of the prequel immediately after
wrapping
on the previous installment. West stated that he had pitched his idea of a new franchise to
A24
and had been surprised when they
green-lit
his projects. The filmmaker stated that he intends each film to have its own distinct style and
genre
of
horror
. Describing his approach to
X
, he said he was heavily influenced by
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
franchise
and by the works of
Mario Bava
, which explore how the rise of
independent filmmaking
affected society. Regarding
Pearl
, he described it as
Douglas Sirk
melodrama
meeting the
Technicolor
style of
Mary Poppins
and
The Wizard of Oz
, made as a "demented
Disney movie
", and said it will explore how
Hollywood filmmaking
has influenced people. West stated that he intends to continue this trend of exploring diverse styles and genres in future installments. The movie is a joint-venture production between A24 and Little Lamb Productions.
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
With the release of the first publicity poster, it was announced that West would once again serve as
film editor
alongside his other production roles, that Eliot Rockett would return as cinematographer, and that
Tyler Bates
and
Tim Williams
would serve as co-composers of the film's
score
.
[10]
Casting
[
edit
]
Mia Goth reprises her role as a younger version of
Pearl
, the elderly woman from the first film.
[7]
[8]
[9]
[5]
In July 2022, it was revealed that
David Corenswet
,
Tandi Wright
,
Matthew Sunderland
, and Emma Jenkins-Purro would feature as the supporting cast.
[11]
Filming
[
edit
]
Principal photography was revealed to have begun in secret immediately following the completed photography on
X
. Filming started in
New Zealand
, took place
back-to-back
with the first movie and used the same sets that were built for
X
. West worked with the production crew of
Avatar: The Way of Water
, who were taking a break from production on that film at the time. West stated that, despite the production taking place during the
COVID-19 pandemic
, the production crew had already completed their required period of
self-isolation
, and were therefore able to work safely and efficiently together during the pandemic. He said: "I came out of quarantine and I was like, 'We're already building all of this stuff, it's COVID and we're on the one place on Earth where it's safe to make a movie.'"
[7]
[8]
[5]
[12]
[13]
Post-production
[
edit
]
In March 2022, having completed filming, West announced that he was currently working on
editing
the movie, that he would go to
Nashville, Tennessee
, following the March 2022
SXSW Film Festival
, to record the
orchestral score
for the soundtrack with Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams, and that the film was expected to be finished in May.
[8]
[5]
[12]
Marketing
[
edit
]
A teaser trailer was screened at the SXSW Film Festival, following
screening
of the first film. The footage accompanied the theatrical release of
X
.
[12]
[9]
[5]
In July 2022, the first trailer was released with the marketing tagline of "an
X
-traordinary Origin Story", referring to the previous installment.
[10]
Release
[
edit
]
Pearl
had its world premiere at the
79th Venice International Film Festival
on September 3, 2022,
[14]
and was released in theaters in the United States on September 16, 2022.
[10]
The film was released on
VOD
on October 25, 2022,
[15]
and was released on
Blu-ray
and
DVD
on November 15, 2022.
[16]
Reception
[
edit
]
Box office
[
edit
]
In the United States and Canada,
Pearl
was released alongside
The Woman King
and
See How They Run
, and was projected to gross around $4 million from 2,900 theaters in its opening weekend.
[17]
The film made $1.3 million on its first day and went on to debut to $3.1 million, finishing third at the box office.
[18]
It made $1.92 million in its second weekend, finishing fifth at the box office.
[19]
Critical response
[
edit
]
On
Rotten Tomatoes
, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 201 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's consensus states: "
Pearl
finds Ti West squeezing fresh gore out of the world he created with
X
? and once again benefiting from a brilliant Mia Goth performance."
[20]
On
Metacritic
, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[21]
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
gave the film an average grade of "B?" on an A+ to F scale, while those at
PostTrak
gave the film a 75% overall positive score, with 54% saying they would definitely recommend it.
[18]
Reviewing the film following its Venice Film Festival premiere,
Peter Bradshaw
of
The Guardian
praised West's direction and Goth's "grandiose performance", assigning it a perfect rating of five stars and remarking: "Perhaps I shouldn't have enjoyed
Pearl
as much as I did: but it's clever, limber, gruesome and brutally well acted. A gem."
[22]
In his review for
The Hollywood Reporter
, David Rooney described it as a "cleverly packaged pandemic production with narrative echoes of that global anxiety", praising the screenplay, cinematography, score, and Goth's performance?which he compares to that of American actress
Shelley Duvall
in
The Shining
(1980).
[23]
In a year-end retrospective for Daily Grindhouse,
Preston Fassel
named the film as the best horror movie of 2022 as well as "the best film of the year, period, and a bona fide cinematic classic that deserves
Criterion
status ASAP."
[24]
In a negative review, Ewan Gleadow of
Cult Following
wrote that while West "doubles down on what made
X
such a chilling feature and consolidates what he is good at", the film ultimately "feels like a weak parody of the
MGM
days of
The Wizard of Oz
."
[25]
Similarly, Derek Smith of
Slant Magazine
thought that, while
The Wizard of Oz
references were "purposeful", they lacked "follow through", creating an impression that the film is more focused on showcasing its "cleverness" rather than enhancing its narrative or character depth.
[26]
Filmmaker
Martin Scorsese
was reportedly impressed by the film, calling it "mesmerizing" and stating that it was "powered by a pure, undiluted love for cinema".
[27]
[28]
The New York Times
named the character of Pearl one of the 93 most stylish "people" of 2022, highlighting her "blood red dress, lacy blue bow, smudged makeup, boots … and ax".
[29]
Accolades
[
edit
]
Future
[
edit
]
West announced in March 2022 that he was working on the script for a third movie in the film series, to be set chronologically after the events of
X
. That project will explore another subgenre of horror and will continue depicting how cinema in general, and the development of
home video releases
in particular, have influenced society. West stated that, while a viewer can watch each movie independently without having seen the previous film, they are made to "complement each other".
[9]
[5]
In describing his creative processes during the development of these films, West stated, "I'm trying to build a world out of all this, like people do these days." The filmmaker further noted, "You can't make a slasher movie without a bunch of sequels."
[8]
In September 2022, at the first Midnight Madness showing of
Pearl
for the
2022 Toronto International Film Festival
, a third film was officially announced with a short teaser played
after the credits
. The clip was later released online for those not present at the event. West once again serves as writer/director and one of the producers, while Mia Goth will reprise her role from the first movie. Titled
MaXXXine
, the film takes place in 1985 and serves as a sequel to
X
. The plot was confirmed to center around Maxine, the only survivor of the "Massacre of
X
" as she continues to pursue her future in
Hollywood
. Though principal photography has not yet begun, the teaser trailer was
shot
with the film fast-tracked to being
green-lit
by A24, following the successes of the previous two installments. Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss will be producers, while Goth will additionally serve as an executive producer.
[47]
[48]
[49]
It will be released in 2024.
[50]
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Squires, John (September 13, 2022).
"
'MaXXXine' ? A24 Announces Third Movie in Ti West's 'X' Franchise! [Teaser]"
.
Bloody Disgusting
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from the original on September 14, 2022
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September 13,
2022
.
- ^
Chapman, Wilson (August 1, 2023).
"Every A24 Movie Coming Out in 2023 and Beyond"
.
IndieWire
. Retrieved
October 31,
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.
External links
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