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Pearl (2022 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Pearl' (subtitled 'An X-traordinary Origin Story') is a 2022 Americanslasher film directed byTi West, and co-written by West and Mia Goth, who reprises her role as the title character. David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, and Emma Jenkins-Purro feature in the supporting cast. A co-production of A24 and Little Lamb Productions, it is aprequelto'X' (2022) and serves as an origin story for the villain.
'Pearl' had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2022, and was released in theaters in the United States on September 16, 2022, by A24. The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising Goths performance and its homages to the films of the golden age of Hollywoodparticularly 'The Wizard of Oz'. Another film in the series, a sequel to 'X' titled 'MaXXXine', is in production.
Plot
In 1918, Pearl is a young woman living with her German immigrant parents on their Texas homestead while her husband, Howard, is serving in World War I. Pearl's father is infirm and paralyzed, and her domineering mother, Ruth, insists that she help care for both him and the farm. Pearl, longing for a more exciting life, is captivated by the films she sees at the local cinema and aspires to become a chorus girl, much to Ruth's disapproval.
At the cinema, Pearl meets a young projectionist who takes a liking to her. While riding her bicycle home, Pearl stops along a cornfield and begins dancing with a scarecrow, fantasizing about the projectionist, and masturbates with it. She later sneaks out of the house at night and visits the projectionist, who shows her 'A Free Ride', an illicit stag film he acquired in Europe. He encourages Pearl to pursue her dreams. Pearl comments that she cannot abandon her family, and that she wishes they were dead.
Pearl's affluent sister-in-law, Mitzy, tells her of an audition being held to acquire new dancers for a traveling troupe, which Pearl envisions as a way out of her circumstance. When Ruth finds a pamphlet Pearl took from the cinema, the two get into a fierce argument over dinner. A physical altercation erupts, during which Pearl shoves her mother against the kitchen hearth, igniting her dress and resulting in Ruth suffering life-threatening burns. Pearl drags Ruth into the basement and leaves her father seated in the kitchen. She flees to the cinema, where she has sex with the projectionist.
In the morning, the projectionist drives Pearl back to the farm so she can prepare for the audition. He becomes perturbed by inconsistencies Pearl has told him, as well as by her extremely theatrical behavior. When he attempts to leave, Pearl flies into a fit of rage and stabs him to death with a pitchfork before pushing his carwith his corpse in itinto a pond, where an alligator she has nicknamed Theda eats his remains. Pearl dresses herself in one of Ruth's lavish gowns, and dresses up her father before smothering him to death.
Pearl arrives at the church where the audition is being held. She gives a dance performance she feels will win over the talent scouts, but is profoundly distraught when she is rejected. Mitzy accompanies her home in an attempts to console her. In the kitchen, Pearl makes a lengthy confession to Mitzy about her resentment toward Howard, who came from a privileged background but insisted that the couple remain on her family's farm. She further admits to taking the lives of her parents and the projectionist. A stunned Mitzy attempts to leave, falsely assuring Pearl she will not divulge their conversation. However, when Pearl forces Mitzy to confess that she was chosen by the talent scouts, Pearl chases her down the driveway and kills her with an axe.
Pearl dismembers Mitzy's body and feeds her corpse to Theda, before going into the basement and lying with a deceased Ruth. Having reached the conclusion that her mother was correct and that Pearl should "make the best of what she has", she decides to remediate her wrongdoings by creating a comfortable home for Howard when he returns from the war. The next morning, Howard arrives unexpectedly. In the kitchen, he is horrified to find the bodies of Pearl's parents seated at the dining table around the rotting pig. Pearl greets him with a protracted, pained expression of joy.
Cast
* Mia Goth as Pearl
* David Corenswet as The Projectionist
* Tandi Wright as Ruth
* Matthew Sunderland as Pearl's Father
* Emma Jenkins-Purro as Mitzy
* Alistair Sewell as Howard
Production
Development
Ti West began writing a script for the prequel film during production on 'X'. The filmmaker stated that the prequel project had developed from a story he had collaborated on with Mia Goth, and that he had seen it either as becoming a potential film, or simply serving as a backstory for Goth's role as Pearl in the first movie. After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, seeing its impact on the cinema industry, West stated that he had been inspired to continue working and had decided to begin production of the prequel immediately after wrapping on the previous installment. West stated that he had pitched his idea of a new franchise to A24 and had been surprised when they green-lit his projects. The filmmaker stated that he intends each film to have its own distinct style and genre of horror. Describing his approach to each movie, he stated that 'X' was heavily influenced by 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' franchise and by the works of Mario Bava, which explore how the rise of independent filmmaking affected society, while 'Pearl' will be a melodrama meets the Technicolor style of 'Mary Poppins' and 'The Wizard of Oz', made as a "demented Disney movie" and based on the works of Douglas Sirk, and will explore how Hollywood filmmaking has influenced people. West stated that he intends to continue this trend of exploring diverse styles and genres in future installments. The movie is a joint-venture production between A24 and Little Lamb Productions.With the release of the first publicity poster, it was announced that West would once again serve as film editor alongside his other production roles, that Eliott Rocket would return as cinematographer, and that Tyler Bates and Tim Williams would serve as co-composers of the film's score.
Casting
Mia Goth will reprise her role as a younger version of Pearl, the elderly woman from the first movie. In July 2022, it was revealed that David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, and Emma Jenkins-Purro will feature as the supporting cast.Filming
Principal photography was revealed to have begun in secret immediately following the completed photography on 'X'. Filming started in New Zealand, and took place back-to-back with the first movie. West worked with the production crew of 'Avatar: The Way of Water', who were taking a break from production on that film at the time. West stated that, despite the production taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the production crew had already completed their required period of self-isolation, and were therefore able to work safely and efficiently together during the pandemic. The filmmaker said: "I came out of quarantine and I was like, 'We're already building all of this stuff, it's COVID and we're on the one place on Earth where it's safe to make a movie.'"Post-production
In March 2022, having completed filming, West announced that he was currently working on editing the movie, that he would go to Nashville, Tennessee, following the March 2022 SXSW Film Festival, to record the orchestral score for the soundtrack with Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams, and that the film was expected to be finished in May.Marketing
A teaser trailer was screened at the SXSW Film Festival, following screening of the first movie. The footage accompanied the theatrical release of 'X'. In July 2022, the first trailer was released with the marketing tagline of "an 'X'-traordinary Origin Story", referring to the previous installment.
Release
'Pearl' had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2022, and was released in theaters in the United States on September 16, 2022.
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, 'Pearl' was released alongside 'The Woman King' and 'See How They Run', and is projected to gross around $4 million from 2,900 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.3 million on its first day and went on to debut to $3.1 million, finishing fourth at the box office.Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's consensus states: "'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." According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 29 critics, the film received "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave the film a 75% overall positive score, with 54% saying they would definitely recommend it.Reviewing the film following its Venice Film Festival premiere, Peter Bradshaw of 'The Guardian' gave the film five out of five stars, praising Goth's "grandiose performance".
Awards
At the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was the first place runner up for the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness.Christian Zilko, [https://www.indiewire.com/2022/09/tiff-2022-peoples-choice-award-winners-list-1234763848/ "The Fabelmans Wins TIFF 2022 Peoples Choice Award"]. 'IndieWire', September 18, 2022.Future
West announced in March 2022 that he was working on the script for a third movie in the film series, to be set chronologically after the events of 'X'. That project will explore another sub-genre of horror and will continue depicting how cinema in general, and the development of home video releases in particular, have influenced society. West stated that, while a viewer can watch each movie independently without having seen the previous film, they are made to "complement each other". In describing his creative processes during the development of these films, West stated, "I'm trying to build a world out of all this, like people do these days." The filmmaker further noted, "You can't make a slasher movie without a bunch of sequels".
In September 2022, at the first Midnight Madness showing of 'Pearl' for the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, a third film was officially announced with a short teaser played after the credits. The clip was later released online for those not present at the event. West once again serves as writer/director and one of the producers, while Mia Goth will reprise her role from the first movie. Serving as a sequel to 'X', the film takes place in 1985 and is titled 'MaXXXine'. The plot was confirmed to center around Maxine, the only survivor of the "Massacre of 'X'" as she continues to pursue her future in Hollywood. Though principal photography has not yet begun, the teaser trailer was shot with the film fast-tracked to being green-lit by A24, following the successes of the previous two installments. Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss will be producers, while Goth will additionally serve as an executive producer.
References
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