This weekend you may go to the theater and see a showing for a movie called Pearl. Mia Goth stars as the title character in this new psychological thriller. Stellar in her performance as an old woman previously met in another Ti West movie turned young. Now that I have introduced you to this new film you may have been thinking something along the lines of “Why are we talking about this movie called Pearl? I’m here to read about X.” Well in order to experience Pearl as the director Ti West intended, one would have to watch his movie from last year called, you guessed it, X (Pearl is first introduced to the audience in this movie).
The stellar performances by the cast, unique editing style, and interesting story made for a compelling slasher film that went deeper than a cut. Though I’m a huge fan of horror, I rarely watch anything too gory. This has proved to be one of the few slasher films I would highly recommend. Mia Goth stars in this movie as the two main characters, Maxine Minx, a porn star who knows she’s destined for bigger things, and as the infamous Pearl, an elderly woman driven to insanity after watching the crew work and longing to be touched in the same way (I wish I was kidding). The premise, though insane, worked surprisingly well and never seemed outlandish throughout the movie. The film takes place at an old couple, Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearls, farm. A group of porn stars, Maxine, Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson Hole (Scott Mescudi), and their crew, Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), Wayne Gilroy (Martin Henderson), and RJ Nichols (Owen Campbell) rent a cabin on their property in order to shoot a movie. As Pearl catches on to the group’s motives for being there, she begins to reminisce about her youth, eventually becoming violent when she doesn’t receive the attention she craves from her husband or the group.
The director, screenwriter, and editor, Ti West continuously showed his creativity through all aspects of the film. The dialogue was believable and funny, making light of an industry many people know little about and advocating for those who work in it, showing adult entertainers throughout the film as people who are no different than you or I. Along with the captivating script, West’s editing was also extremely unique. Throughout the movie he cut back and forth between ending and beginning shots of scenes in order to transition to a new one. Goth gives an outstanding performance in both roles she’s in. Along with Goth, Ortega stood out especially. With some truly blood curdling screams administered through the film by both Ortega and Goth, one can see the making of new scream queens for Gen Z. Snow, Mescudi, Henderson, and Campbell complimented Goth and Ortega’s acting beautifully, adding comic relief in times of need. Snow especially managed to shine even when up against these new power houses.
In the end, this film has given me hope for the slasher genre to expand and grow into some brilliant movies thanks to the genius of Ti West and Goth. So go watch the movie, and then go see Pearl, prepared as Ti West wanted you to be.