Viking Reviews: Pearl
In a setting based in the 1910’s, living on a farm with your family’s strict policies doesn’t seem the most entertaining – tending to the animals, taking care of sick family members, traveling to town to retrieve medicine for said family, and consequently living the same routine every day.
It may sound draining, but for Pearl – the lead role in the new A24 movie “Pearl” – it is a sad reality.
Having to face this sad reality, Pearl seeks to find hope and promise in her future, resulting in her doing whatever it takes to get her out of life she was currently living – even if it means doing awful, murderous acts. After A24’s hit horror film “X” that came out in early 2022, Mia Goth (Pearl) and Ti West (director, creative writer) immediately knew they wanted to make an origin story to the infamous Pearl who starred as the old woman who owned the farm in “X.”
The movie “X” explores a group of filmmakers who travel to a farm to explore their opportunities on set. They soon find out that the owner of this farm, Pearl, is not as nice and friendly as she may seem.
The film “Pearl” begins with Pearl being in her mid-20’s living on her parents farm, hating her everyday life.
We begin to see her relationship develop with her strict yet stern mother, and her father, who is so ill he becomes unable to function on his own.
The relationship between Pearl and her parents is full of tension and heartbreak, as Pearl cannot bind to her parents’ rules anymore.
She begins longing for opportunity and change, resulting in discovering a deep passion for dancing after watching a film documenting the most famous dance team during her time period.
She becomes extremely passionate about a dancing audition that is held towards the climax of the film, giving her a sense of hope that she may be able to escape her everyday life on the farm.
Pearl from then on proceeds to do whatever it takes to secure her spot on this dance team, in hopes she’ll never have to live on that farm again.
This is when we see her true identity and motives. We as the audience see Pearl go through horrendous times in her life – pouring out all her emotions – and her unique way of coping with them.
Like other A24 horror films (Hereditary, Midsommar, X), Pearl takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions, and leaves the audience speechless towards the conclusion of the movie as it is just so horrifying it is hard to look away.
These films all portray astute acting in the horror genre, and all produce something that was never thought to be seen before.
Mia Goth and Ti West create a film that is both captivating and terrifying at the same time.
The character development and plot twists leave the audience intrigued, yet horrified.
Mia Goth’s performance helps create this character that is so intricate in its design, her performance is so breathtaking that she manages to leave the audience feeling some sort of sympathy for this character that has done awful, imaginable things.
She performs a 11 minute no-cut monologue towards the end of the film that portrays an abundance of emotion that leaves the audience speechless.
The movie also contains one of the most iconic end credit scenes seen this year in horror, as Pearl stares into the camera (breaking the 4th wall), just smiling for about 2 minutes straight – in which was also a one take shot – and showing more emotion through one facial expression than could have been said with a detailed script. Mia Goth’s performance is incredible, and definitely one you can’t miss.
You can watch “Pearl” now in theaters everywhere, and will be available on demand soon. The sequel to Pearl, “X”, can be found On Demand.