"Pearl" is Ti West's followup to the 1970s-set "X", which serves as an origin story for that film's villain. It focuses on her life as a lonely and whimsical young woman who feels stifled by her obligations caring for her family in 1918 Texas while her husband serves in World War I. Pearl's only outlet is the local cinema, where she is invigorated by the glamour of motion pictures and dreams of being a star. Pearl's longing for a more thrilling life--along with some ostensibly psychological predispositions to insanity--drive her to do some unspeakable things.
Though branded as a "Technicolor slasher" of sorts, "Pearl" is, in truth, more of a twisted psychological family drama, and a character study of a deeply sad outsider who feels her life is slipping away from her; her dreams, desires, and impulses out of reach due to her circumstances. This theme was tapped upon in "X", which showed the character at the end of her life, and this exploration of where she came from is demented and poignant by turns. The film is notably effective because this existential theme is one that is endemic to being a human--a fear for many that, no matter where we are in our lives, is ever-present--all of the "what-ifs", the mourning of "lost" time, and even worse: the possibility that where we are is in fact where we belong.
This film would not work without Mia Goth's performance, which is truly remarkable. Here, she portrays an outsider anti-hero that is steeped in nuance and conflicting character traits (and flaws). Her ennui and sadness is empathetically played, and one can sense that Goth herself, on some level, identifies with Pearl's pain. She lends the role a potent mixture of naiveté, delicateness, and pure, murderous rage. While Pearl is all of these things, she is also none of them entirely, and thanks to Goth's performance (and the screenplay, which she had a hand in co-crafting with West), the character emerges as multilayered and human despite her propensity for evil. Encircling Goth is a solid supporting cast who are all capable of meeting her intensity with varying degrees of bewilderment, disgust, and sheer terror.
"Pearl" does indeed edge into slasher territory in its third act, and the film as a whole is a visual feast--garishly colorful, and tipping its hat to a number of films. "The Wizard of Oz" is an obvious cornerstone, but there are visual and symbolic nods to "Repulsion" and, even more heavily, Frederick Friedel's obscure farm-set "Axe", another film that follows a mysterious (and murderous) young woman caring for her infirm grandfather on a rural farm. As with "X", West uses these influences smartly without browbeating the audience or pushing the film's content over the edge into pure pastiche, and the film downshifts in its denouement in a way that is unexpectedly touching, despite all the spilt blood and entrails.
As a companion piece to "X", "Pearl" may leave some fans of its predecessor underwhelmed, largely because it is so tonally different and not the conventional "slasher" film that might be expected. However, as a nuanced character study of a budding serial killer, it could not possibly be any better. "Pearl" stands tall as a disturbing and strangely heartbreaking portrait of a person who, upon finding that her search for meaning and validation from others leads her nowhere, is then only capable of destroying them. 9/10.
