I'm a little late to the Ti West fan club. I did see and love X. But then I forgot and moved on. Until I noticed that Pearl, the prequel to X, was available to me on Amazon Prime. I remembered how much I loved X, and how rare a really good and therefore precious a really good horror movie is. It's a genre that tends to suffer from its popularity and therefore, whether it be in a movie, series or book, subject to lazy cliches by those who only seek to make money easily. A good many try to lean in to those cliches as a form of tribute, but almost always end up making something that is weak and diluted. What I so loved about X is that Ti West does lean into the cliches but still manages to make something that feels original and fresh. Pearl is very different than X. There is still the use of horror movie genre staples in a way that is clever and playful. But it goes back to a very different era than X, which makes its home in the 70s horror genre. Pearl goes back to a much earlier era and at first seems to suffer in the is far less moody and intense and far more tongue in cheek. But then Mia Goth, who co-wrote this script, really starts to let loose and, let me tell you, this woman can Act. All the hackneyed phrases about great performances would be apropos here. This performance takes over the film and becomes what drives it and I found myself just enjoying watching Goth take what could and should easily be over the edge, far over the edge, but somehow never is. This is one of those performances that you would have expected from Malkovich or Gary Oldman or even Judi Dench. Yes, it is that great. There is more reason to watch the film. West is a master of using camera angles and creating moments that from a lesser director would be overdone but in West's hands reminds you of Hitchcock or David Fincher at his very best. Without Goth's performance it would still be a great film. But with Goth's bravura performance it becomes a film that deserves rewatching, that makes you want to stand up and applaud. The final shot, I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into detail, is a masterpiece of acting and of directing. Pearl is not as frightening as X. At times, that final shot for instance, you'll want to and you should laugh. But then you may want to go back to admire the sheer impossibility of the acting that Goth somehow pulls off, and the artistry of the directing. I cannot say enough about Goth's performance. You'll have to see it to believe it. It is a high wire act with absolutely no net. If you love acting, if you love great performances, then you absolutely have to see Pearl. If you love horror movies then you absolutely have to see Pearl. It will definitely, and it should, end up on most greatest ever lists. I hesitate to say that it is better than X. It is very different than X. And yet they have so much in common. I am late to jump on the Ti West bandwagon. I am late to jump on the Mia Goth bandwagon. But, after Pearl, I am firmly a gigantic fan of both. I don't don't know how you can watch Pearl and not be stunned by it, and not absolutely love it. To say it is a great film feels too small a tribute to what Pearl is. There are so few great horror movies. Pearl, along with X, is more an achievement, in that it masters a genre that is so rarely served even slightly well.
Review of Pearl
