I admit I was very skeptical about “Pearl.” I loved “X” but I didn’t think Ti West could do much with the film’s villain and the back story he intended. “Pearl” is a shocking horror film, one that takes a seemingly one dimensional tragic horror villain and put the spotlight on their story which ends up being quite emotional. Big credit goes to Mia Goth and Ti West, both of whom deliver on a disturbing and twisted horror drama that focuses on a young girl who explodes in a powder keg of body parts and corpses.
Filmmaker Ti West returns with another chapter from the twisted world of X, in this follow-up to the year’s most acclaimed horror film. Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl finds her ambitions, temptations, and repressions all colliding in to one blood soaked overture. Mia Goth’s performance is absolutely Oscar worthy. She is the life blood of “Pearl,” a movie that acts as West’s simplistic ode to “Sunset Boulevard.” Goth portrays Pearl as a truly complex protagonist who is cracking at the seams when we first meet her.
She lives in an oppressive household, is tasked with caring for her disabled father, and has dreams that border on pure delusion. Whether or not she’s the hero of the piece is left up to interpretation as Pearl’s mother seems all too cognizant of what Pearl has in store for the world. Much of Pearl is limited in setting but establishes the world that she lives in, a world that holds her back from achieving anything remotely noteworthy. There are many moments of quiet horror established with “Pearl,” as she’s torn between her responsibilities and her dreams. She has fantasies of being a big time dancer, and will do literally anything to achieve them. But reality has something so much more in store for her, and the more she realizes that, we’re set down a path of absolute madness.
West is a genius at build up and anticipation and once “Pearl” explodes, it ensures an absolutely devastating series of events. West does a lot with so little, exploring Pearl’s isolating home life and how it chips away at her sanity, all the while her taste of the outside world sends her spiraling rather than flying. Goth’s take on the turning of the screws is mesmerizing and she garners so many moments of pure hypnotizing drama and horror. She’s an absolute delight in this role, and lends so much dimension and layers to what becomes such a unique horror villain.
Star and co-writer Goth commands the screen from minute one, chipping away at her character’s psyche minute by minute. She jumps from empathetic tragicharacter to horrifying killer in moments flat, and West knows how to deliver on her ultimate transformation. The final ten minutes of “Pearl” are incredible, right down to Goth’s epic monologue where she spills out everything she feels and has done that will leave jaws agape. West has improved as a director film by film, and “Pearl” is easily his masterpiece, to date. I think West has a lot more substance to bring to the world of horror and cinema as a whole, and “Pearl” is concrete proof of that.