Pearl (2022) - Perfect Balance Between an Emotional Drama and a Brutal Horror Movie - 8/10 (30/09/22)

X has been a decent horror movie that has shown us how a group of pornography filmmakers was menaced and murdered by an elderly couple in the late seventies. This prequel tells the story of this elderly couple and especially focuses on the woman known as Pearl. The story introduces us to a young woman of German heritage growing up on an isolated farm with her parents someplace in Texas. This young woman is married to an American soldier who is stationed in Europe towards the end of the First World War. However, Pearl is unsatisfied with her situation and dreams of becoming a popular dancer and actress despite lacking experience and skills in both departments. She channels her anger into killing animals on her farm and getting into heated debates with her conservative and religious mother. Pearl's behaviour however continuously spirals out of control and soon leads to sexual escapism and violent crimes.

Even though most prequels and sequels to horror movies lack the atmosphere, creativity and intensity of the original material, Pearl is actually a significant improvement over X. This is first of all due to the fact that we have a limited number of characters with the dangerous Pearl, her religious mother, her vegetative father, her elegant sister-in-law and a swaggering projectionist who is trying to earn Pearl's affection. These five characters are fleshed out very well and have significant depth.

Up next, the settings are also fairly limited. The movie takes place on an isolated farm beside a beautiful lake. However, just as an alligator is hiding in the lake, the seemingly charming isolation enhances Pearl's dangerous mental illness. As a contrast to this rural location, several scenes take place in the nearby town where Pearl explores the local cinema where she has sexual encounters with the projectionist, the local pharmacy where she takes medication that is supposed to help her sick father and the local church where she has a raging meltdown after failing her audition for a dance troupe.

This movie also works very efficiently because it is a slow burn that slowly increases in tension and violence. Pearl at first kills an innocent goose, then masturbates on a scarecrow before going further and actively cheating on her husband and getting into verbal and then physical arguments with her mother. The second half of the movie should send shivers down your spine and leave viewers on a particularly uneasy, shocking and haunting note.

However, this film has more to offer than violence. The movie's two most impressive scenes actually feature no violence at all. Pearl delivers a haunting monologue to her sister-in-law which turns out to be a soul striptease and a confession of all her sins. The way Pearl speaks, what she says and how her sister-in-law reacts portray best everything that is wrong with this antagonist that doesn't deserve any empathy or sympathy. The movie's closing scene is also particularly haunting and leaves a sinister impression as the credits start to roll even though there isn't even any dialogue.

Speaking of these impressive scenes, the acting needs to be pointed out very positively here. Every single actress and actor plays her or his role outstandingly but Mia Goth certainly is this movie's shining star. I would even go one step further and say that she is one of the greatest contemporary young actresses along with Joey King. She manages to portray her complex, complicated and diversified character splendidly, shifting rapidly from dulling boredom over quirky escapism to violent escalation when portraying Pearl's radically varying emotions. Even if you aren't a fan of horror movies, just watching Mia Goth's performance alone is worth your attention, recognition and time.

All these marvellous elements however wouldn't work properly if the film weren't directed by a gifted person. Ti West delivers the goods in this regard. The camera work varies fluidly between wide shots presenting the settings and close-ups capturing the characters' intense emotions. The light work is flawless and shows the illusionary bright sunlight in the countryside while portraying the buildings of the farm as creepy, dark and sinister settings. The sound effects also work very well, varying from quiet moments during important dialogues and monologues to loud passages when gruesome crimes are happening that are perfectly enhanced by an intense and memorable soundtrack.

The only reasons why this very good horror movie doesn't get an even higher rating is because the entire story is obviously extremely predictable. This is especially the case if you have seen the character of Pearl in the movie X. However, it's also the case if you only watch this movie since the opening scenes drop enough hints at Pearl's dangerous psychopathic behaviour. This leads at times to an absence of truly scary moments in the film which might not sit well with all horror movie enthusiasts.

At the end of the day, Pearl finds the perfect balance between an emotional drama and a brutal horror movie. This film convinces with excellent acting performances, slowly intensifying atmosphere, fascinating characters, precise elements of filmmaking and wonderfully chosen settings. Pearl isn't only interesting for fans of its predecessor X but stands its own ground and could easily be watched by someone who isn't familiar with the previous movie. Another movie in this intriguing series called MaXXXine will soon see the light of day to complement and complete one of the greatest horror movie trilogies in recent memory.