Pearl
2022
****
Director: Ti West
Cast: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Alistair Sewell
During the Spanish Flu in 1918, Pearl lives on a Texas farm with her overbearing mother and catatonic father, while her husband is fighting in World War I. Pearl, who seems to take pleasure in inflicting pain, hopes to become a star and escape her miserable existence. This prequel tells the origin story of the villain of X, and I must say I much prefer the psychological horror here to the slasher pastiche in the original. It tells an original and twisted version of The Wizard of Oz (1939) and features a wonderfully nasty and vulnerable protagonist. Mia Goth, who co-wrote the script with Ti West, is excellent in the lead. Her extended confessional monologue towards the end is mesmerising.
