Pearl (2022)

Stars	User	Rating
7	Paxton	78 _83rd
Puts the SIK in Douglas Sirk. I wish that worked better. Five and a half minutes btw. That’s how long the last take during Mia Goth’s monologue at the end lasts. Five and a half minutes.
5	BillyShears	90 _92nd
Ti West takes a whatever villain from X and turns her into an actual monster. Spooky and uncomfortable, making a lurid Shirley Temple looking movie is 100x more interesting than another 70s/80s thing - I hoot while pacing around now for Maxxxine
4	samwightt	98 _88th
I fucking love this movie. The Wizard of Oz but if Dorothy was an ax murderer.
3	MadMan	90 _67th
Mia Goth is fantastic and despite a slow start this movie descends into insanity in the final act. The Wizard of Oz meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
3	overrated	70 _77th
Pretty much the only instance I can think of where the original film detracts from a prequel/sequel? Knowing what happens to Pearl in X is a bit of a letdown. Also the idea of her husband walking into that end scene and being like "Yep, that's the woman I'm going to stay married to on this farm for the next fifty years" is hilarious.
3	AAAutin	80 _90th
Harley Quinn, eat your heart out.
3	PianoSama	70 _82nd
Mia Goth. That's pretty much it. But I have 400 words left so might as well use them. This doesn't quite match the sheer awesomeness of X for me, but it comes close. It's the perfect balance of deeply unnerving, darkly comedic, and brutal in the gore department. Never before have I so deeply hated a protagonist who I simultaneously sympathized with to some extent. Supporting players are good, the writing is really good, the technical stuff looked on point. This delivered. Bring on Maxxxine.
3	doyler29	80 _64th
I wasn't sure how much I really liked this until Mia Goth delivered a long monologue straight into the camera that really tied the film together and made it feel like a prequel to "X". I like "X" better, but this is one strange, daring film with a really great performance from Goth. It's her film all the way, right through to the incredible last shot that sustains through the closing credits.
2	Obdurate	70 _40th
Like this more than X. Still suffers from trying a little too hard, though not nearly as hard as X. There are some silly parts, but mostly you're able to just enjoy Goth put in a great performance, without the baggage of X (old people just not being scary in it). Is it scary itself? Nah. But it's more psychologically rich than X. I'm not enthused by this franchise but this is a decent step up in quality.
2	Trash Puppet	8 _71st
Better than X, but I suppose they pair together well.
2	Leonardis	93 _76th
Well this was unexpectedly awesome! I liked X, appreciated X, didn’t love X. It was really well made, but I just thought this was an even better movie. Very original, led by Mia Goth in one of the very best performances I’ve probably ever seen in a movie. She never felt too over-the-top or over-acted. She and West wrote a very compelling story around this character. It’s also just really well made. I loved the directing, colors, production, score and tension. Very effective use of $1.5B!
1	TheRealJ-Ro	85 _84th
(Reviewing in full in conjunction with X) Ti West bursts back onto my radar with a pair of splendidly-put-together thrillers - and I'm actually happy that I watched these in timeline order rather than by release. West is really talented, aptly juxtaposing Pearl's beautiful delusions with the real world she's living in, and setting an immaculate tone. More so in Pearl than in X, I love the use of the continuous shot gimmick. The characters could be more compelling, but Mia Goth is excellent.
1	INDYATMN	75 _41st
While West is still doing something different w/ slasher films, the unique stuff in this prequel is mostly superficial - unlike X. The '30's references & visuals are definitely unusual, but, unlike X, the killer's motivation - to be famous- is common in horror. If his theme was to also show that H'wood creates problematic desires, the killer's too nutty for it to work. Other things would've likely set her off. Goth is amazing, but 1 too-long monologue seems to exist to showboat for an Oscar.
1	WWallce4prez	80 _72nd
Remember that one time that Mia Goth won "best smile" at the the "awards-I-made-up" the same year a movie called Smile came out.
1	Darren	79 _73rd
As with X pearl attempts to dissect the power movies and in particular the sexual nature of cinema has had on the American psyche. On escapist nature allowed by Hollywood and all the demons that attempt to exploit those dreams. A country still trying to reckon with a new generation who doesn’t know if their lovers are coming home to them. The bubbling sexual tensions of a new America post the Great War. Pearl is Janet Gaynor in street angel. She’s Duvall in the shining. She’s Rowlands
1	guy piranha	70 _69th
i'm just trying to be a better person. my name is pearl.
1	JSchlansky	79 _73rd
I love that this exists, and I think it's so cool that Mia Goth got involved as a writer and producer for this one, her first credit in both categories. Her performance is fantastic and elevates everything around it. Give her an Oscar nomination you cowards

Average Percentile 55.57% from 331 Ratings