Ti West’s Pearl trailer promises a bloodthirsty origin story
The new horror prequel starring Mia Goth follows the original farmhouse where the "murders of X" occurred
Aux News Pearl
What would you do to become a big, big star? No matter how devious, it’s likely kid’s stuff in comparison to the lengths Pearl (Mia Goth), the eponymous star of Ti West’s prequel to his acclaimed horror film X, will happily go to.
“Please lord, make me the biggest star the world has ever seen, so I can make it far, far away from this place,” a young Pearl devoutly prays by her bedside, as B-roll shots introduce us to earlier years on Pearl’s rural white farmhouse first introduced in X. Pearl lives in the picturesque spot with her paraplegic father and cold, strict mother—but in her dreams, she’s in a big screen picture, dancing and scatting with the best of them in a glamorous red dress.
It’s somewhere between her dreams of stardom and her disillusionment with her life at home that things start to go murderously wrong. Pearl already isn’t bothered with helping along natural selection—we watch her stab a goose with her trusty pitchfork and feed it right off the skewer to an alligator in the nearby pond. Earlier on, she contemplates pushing her father into the same waters after wishing aloud to a confidante that they would “just die.” “What did you say?” he responds, but Pearl already has her guard back up: “Nothing.”
Although in classic A24 fashion the teaser relies more on artfully horrific imagery than plot details, what is certain is that Pearl gets her hands bloody. The trailer hints that, like the characters in X, Pearl finds herself participating in a porno (billed to her as a type of film “nobody else has seen” by a slightly lecherous director). Sure, she’s a little confused, but Pearl wants to be a star— she’s already so desperate for her big break she’s considered making her father amphibian food, and competition from a curly-headed blonde ingenue proves too much to bear. Whether it’s with a slightly different lipstick shade or full-on murder—no one’s more determined than Pearl to achieve that X factor.
Pearl will hit theaters this fall, on September 16.
29 Comments
Why did this open in a new tab?
It’s been doing that since yesterday. No idea. Also does it on my phone, so it’s not the computer.
Same here. Also the comment sections are wonky, can’t comment sometimes, can’t see pending comments.
i saw this last week. it’s not very good.
How have you seen it already? Did you work on its post-production or something?
He fainted for about a half hour while they were shooting an exceptionally gory amphibian scene.
got a friend in the biz who had screener access. looked like it was basically completely done.
Ah, OK. I thought “X” was a pretty fun slasher, disappointing to hear that the foll0w-up may not be so hot.
x is going for a 70s, grimy, texas chainsaw massacre thing and they achieved that vibe really well.this is going for 20s/30s technicolor wizard of oz thing and the reach exceeds the grasp. it’s not unwatchable or a complete mess but it’s not as good as x.
> considered making her father amphibian foodI know the state of science education in this country is kind of dire, but come on, a gator isn’t an amphibian.
I noticed that. Lord….
Maybe there was carnivorous amphibians in the water besides that alligator.
I know it’s hard to tell from the photo, but this thing is 15 feet long.
Something…she…might’ve been heard to say?
OK then their hyperlink skills should be on point. So either I’m wrong on that assumption or X isn’t about what I thought it was about.
This doesn’t sound like the Janis Joplin bio I read.
Janis Joplin killed her parents an feed them to an amphibious alligator?
Janis Joplin took an ax, and gave her vocal cords 40 whacks!
WAIT is that why were are no more amphibious alligators? janis killed them all or scared them away with her voice?
Not-entirely-natural selection.
She was from Port Arthur. You’d have done the same thing, right down to finding a killer amphibian.
You’re thinking of Jackie Jormp-Jomp.
That must be it.
Might want to check that link to the X review.
…is what I’d say if there were still editors here.
im really beginning to doubt they even have writers anymore
The header still spells the director’s name as “Tai”.
I enjoyed “X”, and I don’t really care about any potential retconning of that movie, but wasn’t the point that Pearl was driven crazy because of the horror of growing old and losing her youthful beauty (and all the potential that comes from that)? This seems to suggest that Pearl was always a homicidal maniac, which undermines the original message of “X,” but then again…whatever.
I’ve read this but fear it might be a spoiler for X having now read about that too.
anyone else get some serious “pray with me forrest” vibes from her prayer?just me?