Pearl

A film by Ti West and the prequel to “X”. The story of how the iconic villain, Pearl, came to be.
The way they show labels, those big bold white fonts, and the background music they use really takes you back to the 1920s, even though the film is colored, every aspect of it is brings you back to the Jazz Age, from the “pictures” they show, to the music they play. The film is set during the Influenza Pandemic and World War I, where Howard is off to serve in. Pearl was in her 20s in the prequel, whereas in “X” she was in her 80s.

Mia Goth’s performance was far better here than on “X”, it might have something to do with having more cast members, or she had a lesser role than that of what she had on “Pearl”.
Her screams were horrifying and made me respect her more as an artist; but the one thing she did that was iconic for me was at the end credits; the way she smiled and grinned widely, her facial expression changes ever so slightly so that you could see the kind of smile she puts on, from happy to distressed, to depression, to straight up crazy smile. It was disturbing to look at for more than 10 seconds, and it lasted for about 2 minutes.

“Pearl” was definitely better than “X” in all aspects in my opinion. The history and lore of the villain really made me interested and it didn’t disappoint. Definitely recommending this one for modern slasher fans.