But what makes Pearl<\/em> unique, in (as West admits) the sequel- and prequel-heavy world of slasher horror, is his wish to make his prequel in a completely different style. X <\/em>riffed on the look and feel of its most direct influences: gnarly \u201870s indie horror (most specifically The Texas Chain Saw Massacre<\/em>) and grimy \u201870s porn. In Pearl<\/em>, West is aping the aesthetics of another era altogether; the eye-popping colors, lush score, and ornate titles recall the Technicolor melodramas of Douglas Sirk, while the plotting winks at The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, as well as every small town girl \/ star is born \/ farmer\u2019s daughter story you\u2019ve ever seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The time is 1918, ingeniously enough \u2013 it\u2019s frankly shocking that no one thought to make a movie set during the previous pandemic yet \u2013 which allows for a handful of winking references and lines like \u201cHard to know who anybody is these days, with all the masks people are wearing.\u201d Pearl\u2019s husband Howard is off fighting in WWI, so she\u2019s stuck in her farmhouse home with her thickly accented German mother (the excellent Tandi Wright) and her infirm father (Matthew Sunderland, doing some truly noteworthy non-verbal acting). But she sneaks off to \u201cthe pictures\u201d whenever she can, and dreams of stardom. \u201cOne day, you\u2019ll never see me again,\u201d she promises her cow. \u201cOne day, the whole world\u2019s gonna know my name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t worry, though \u2013 in spite of its many other influences, Pearl <\/em>is firmly anchored in the world of horror. Pearl\u2019s relationship with her mother has heavy Carrie<\/em> vibes, as mom bellows \u201cMalevolence is festering inside you!\u201d while lightning strikes, thunder cracks, rain pours, and Tyler Bates and Tim Williams\u2019s witty score swells. The gags are grisly and frequently inventive, much like the predecessor, and while Pearl is a very different character than Maxine, they are similarly driven. \u201cPlease Lord, make me the biggest star the world has ever known,\u201d she prays, \u201cso I\u2019ll make it far, far away from this place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goth, who is also the co-writer and executive producer, is a charismatic and fearless performer. She goes for it<\/em>, in scene after scene, and her open, expressive face and big, wide eyes often recall Shelley Duvall (the highest compliment); it\u2019s a testament to her skills that this anti-heroine turn works so well. And those who’ve seen X<\/em> have the advantage of knowing her fate \u2013 i.e. that, in spite of all of her talk, she doesn\u2019t get away. She\u2019s going to live her entire life in this farmhouse that she loathes so, which makes her weirdly sympathetic, even as she becomes a murderous monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s the extra dimension that a filmmaker of West\u2019s gifts brings into play. Neither X <\/em>nor Pearl<\/em> are the kind of slow burn\/big payoff horror he made his name with in films like The House of the Devil<\/em> and The Innkeepers<\/em>, but he hasn\u2019t forgotten the lessons those pictures taught him about building a compelling genre narrative \u2013 namely, kills and effects are pricey, but character development is free. Goth gets plenty of crowd-pleasing slasher moments, but she most impresses in her pure acting moments: a long, searching, confessional monologue to her sister-in-law (which runs for several minutes without cuts), or the terrifying smile she holds through the end credits, showing her teeth even as tears fall down her cheeks. \u201cI\u2019M A STAR,\u201d she bellows, at one key point, and Pearl may not be. But Mia Goth sure as hell is.\u00a0 “Pearl” is in theaters Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pearl2-1024x576.jpg\")
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