Pearl

Mia Goth armed and ready in Pearl

What I had to say about Ti West's X  also applies to its prequel, Pearl. The film provides the back story to the murderous old crone in X. The bright surface beauty of Pearl, which promises the comfort and joy of a technicolor heartland, is undercut by West before the opening credits are done. The year is 1918 and Pearl is living with her German born mother and invalid father on an isolated farm in Texas. Besides Pearl, the only other holdover from the first film is a sizeable gator named Theda; a name which is an anagram of death.

Pearl, whose husband is away fighting in the war, is lonely and frustrated. She loses herself in reveries of dance and dreams of a career in show business while visiting the local movie palace. There she meets a handsome projectionist and is attracted to his kind manner and worldliness. A dance audition seemingly provides an escape hatch for Pearl, but her dreams turn out to be delusions of grandeur masking psychosis. A metaphor, perhaps. for all art and show biz. 

The boredom and alienation experienced by Americans living on the plains in the 19th and early 20th century is a historical fact (check out Otto Bettmann's wonderful The Good Old Days - They Were Terrible for examples) usually elided by manifestations of the American mythos, like movies. Pearl turns the prairie sequences of The Wizard of Oz upside down by rendering rural America into a nightmare world that drives its inhabitants mad. Ms. Goth who concocted the script with Mr. West, triumphs in a role that showcases her range. Her seven minute monologue near Pearl's conclusion is a signal achievement. The contributions of supporting players David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, and Emma Jenkins-Purro are also vivid. Pearl is Ti West's strongest film thus far and the first one I would recommend to viewers in general and not just horror aficionados.