Pearl (2022)

Directed by Ti West. Starring Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Matthew Sunderland. [R]

Prequel to X (released a mere six months later) is set more than fifty years prior and shows the murderous old lady named Pearl as a disturbed young Texas farm girl with a domineering mother, an infirm father, a husband away at war, and a proclivity for harming and killing animals that’s on the verge of graduating to include human victims. Mia Goth plays the title role again (without the makeup/prosthetics), and her madness and determination border on the bravura as she seeks a twisted form of love and pleasure with a slick projectionist (Corenswet)—no more need to ride a scarecrow to orgasm with this gent around!—and chases the dream of escaping her dreary existence when a dance audition comes to town. As in X, the horror elements are delayed in order to gradually crank up suspense (founded on expectations more than filmcraft) and to delve into the twisted psychology of its demented pro/an-tagonist, but the character study is mostly superficial (with root causes right out of the textbook) and the payoffs are sometimes muted—more is suggested than shown. The Wizard of Oz motifs are also hit and miss, so the movie is ultimately saved by Goth, who puts on a show whether you want to see it or not, and nails a bravura extended monologue near the end that should’ve sent fellow aspiring dancer Jenkins-Purro running a lot sooner. Goth also earned co-writing credit with director West.

70/100