One of the core tenets of American mythology is the "rags to riches" story, the idea that any anonymous individual can, through sheer ambition and force of will, achieve lasting success in life. Nowhere is this myth best utilized than in the numerous stories about people making it big in show business. Most films about this topic throw enough hardship at their protagonists to keep things feeling realistic, but they make sure to perpetuate the myth: most of these stories have a happy ending worthy of a fairy tale.

"Pearl" is a different kind of fairy tale, and its emotionally harrowing finale subversively looks like a Technicolor happy ending while being anything but. This shouldn't come as much surprise to those who saw "X," which was co-writer and director Ti West's initial installment in what we now know is a trilogy of films. In "X," star Mia Goth portrayed both that film's nubile lead,...