Sitges Film Festival 2022: “Pearl” by Ti West

After the tremendous success that X, the slasher proposal by Ti West under the label of A24, had among an audience that knew how to value very positively the hybridization of the horror genre with the universe of the pornographic B-series tapes of the 80s, we were surprised when it was confirmed its prequel. What did worry everyone was discovering not only that the film had already been shot, but that its premiere was going to be practically imminent. Ti West had the opportunity to explain the creative process of the film at the Sitges Festival. Pearl was conceived during the two weeks of confinement prior to the shooting of X that the entire team had to carry out when landing in New Zealand. West, feeling sorry for the destruction to which the farm set they had built especially for the film would be subjected to after filming, had the bright idea of ​​ensuring it a second life. In this way, with the help of a Mia Goth very involved in the origins of her own character, they both wrote a script that was approved even before X started rolling.

All those who wait for Pearl a classic slasher like Xthey should leave mentalizing that they will find themselves facing something quite different. The film deals with the life of Pearl, the disturbing old woman from X, in the middle of 1918. The young woman lives on a farm with a demanding mother and a father in a vegetative state, while facing the absence of a husband who is fighting in trench warfare. Pearl lives suffocated in an oppressive family environment and only finds refuge in the movies she sees in the theaters she visits during her few escapes to a city in the midst of a pandemic (here you can see when the script was written). As the film progresses, Pearl’s environment becomes increasingly suffocating, leading to an instability in the sanity of a character unable to control the different oppressions and disappointments that her life offers him.

If there is a name that shines by its own light in Pearl, it is Mia Goth. Ti West’s decision to allow her to build the character on her own through the script was wise. It is noted that the actress has shaped her role as the protagonist to push the limits and squeeze her acting capabilities to the maximum. Pearl It is a gift and a triple consolidation: firstly, that of A24, which once again demonstrates why it is one of the most fashionable production companies in recent years; secondly, it strengthens the career of a Ti West who promises to become one of the main voices of the genre; and lastly, it catapults the career of an actress who, although no one has ever questioned her worth, has made her marvelous abilities very clear.