Pearl (2022)
85%RT Audience Score: 81%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Pearl finds Ti West squeezing fresh gore out of the world he created with X — and once again benefiting from a brilliant Mia Goth performance.
Ti West is back at it again, squeezing out fresh gore from his twisted world in X. And let’s give a round of applause to Mia Goth for her brilliant performance, because she really killed it (pun intended). Pearl was left on the edge of their seat, wondering what kind of messed up stuff West would come up with next. But hey, that’s what we signed up for, right? If you’re a fan of blood, guts, and a good scare, X is definitely worth checking out. Just maybe don’t watch it alone in the dark.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
New Zealand
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 42m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 16, 2022 Wide
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro, directed by Ti West, written by Ti West, Mia Goth, horror, R rating, A24, box office, $3.0M, reviewed by David Fear, Christy Lemire, Sara Michelle Fetters, Richard Roeper, Joshua Rothkopf, Nick Allen, Erik Childress, Joe Friar, Jeffrey M Anderson, Nicolás Delgadillo, Tim Brayton, Mia Goth performance, X franchise, origin story, isolated farm, ailing father, devout mother, ambitions, temptations, repressions, technicolor-inspired, producer Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss, Kevin Turen, MPAA rating, slasher flick, psychological crack, Douglas Sirk, loneliness, madness, fame, character study, Mia Goth’s movie, Baby Jane, Norma Desmond, persistent dread, darkest fears
Worldwide gross: $9,744,096
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $9,423,445
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,968
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,027,638
US/Canada gross: $9,423,445
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $9,423,445
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,617
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,124,600
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $3,124,600
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,150
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $10,000,000
Production budget ranking: 1,618
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,385,000
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$5,961,555
ROI to date (est.): -39%
ROI ranking: 1,612
David Corenswet – The Projectionist
Tandi Wright – Ruth
Matthew Sunderland – Pearl’s Father
Emma Jenkins-Purro – Misty
Ti West – Director
Director(s)
Ti West
Writer(s)
Ti West, Mia Goth
Producer(s)
Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss, Kevin Turen, Ti West
Film Festivals
Venice, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (117) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (14)
You leave admiring the film’s kills, the lingua franca of any slasher flick. What stays with you, though, is its portrait of a psychological crack turning into a chasm.
September 22, 2022
David Fear
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
If Douglas Sirk made a slasher flick, it would be Pearl.
September 19, 2022
Christy Lemire
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
TOP CRITIC
Pearl is a gift.
September 18, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
Goth delivers an electrifying and truly scary performance.
September 16, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Goth makes the most of a croaking, lengthy one-take monologue, during which a new horror monster is born. Pearl is the rare origin story where you see the breakdown happening in real time.
September 16, 2022 | Rating: A-
Joshua Rothkopf
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Pearl gets a little too close to letting you simply laugh at her. We know she wouldn’t like that.
September 16, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Nick Allen
RogerEbert.com
TOP CRITIC
Ti West and Mia Goth have taken the groundwork for a deeper exploration of the parallels between loneliness and madness when driven with the promise of fame while drenched in the façade of the Technicolor dream factory.
September 22, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Erik Childress
Movie Madness Podcast
Ti West pulls off a remarkable feat by taking an origins story that would usually end up as a short in the extras of the home release and stretches it into a full-length feature that keeps the audience engaged thanks to Mia Goth’s obsessive performance.
September 22, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Joe Friar
Fort Worth Report
This prequel to X promises an origin story, and while it may leave off with more questions than answers, it’s still a well-crafted gore-fest and a vivid character study.
September 22, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Common Sense Media
A seemingly simple horror film that reveals itself to be richly textured both on and below the surface.
September 22, 2022
Nicolás Delgadillo
Knotfest
This is, above all things, Mia Goth’s movie… it is wonderful character work, and worthy of having a film built around it.
September 22, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
Tim Brayton
Alternate Ending
Co-screenwriter and star Mia Goth’s Baby Jane/Norma Desmond rictus grins and disarming naturalism make it hard to root against Pearl, and the playful but never jokey film draws strength from the persistent dread roused by our darkest fears.
September 21, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Jay Horton
Willamette Week…
Plot
Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions all collide. Prequel to the 2022 film “X.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The movie “Palace Follies” that Pearl goes to see at the theater has accompanying sound and music. Given that “Pearl” is set in 1918, this is about eight years too early. Although experimental short films sound had been shown as early as 1894, there were no feature-length movies with synchronized sound before “Don Juan” was released in 1926. Of course, given Pearl’s troubled mental state, she may have simply imagined the music.
Ti-West.jpg
