“Pearl” (2022) is the prequel and sequel to “X” (2022), and is set in 1918, the year of a flu pandemic and WWI. Shot in a Technicolor style of a later area, the titular character is living on her parents’ farm while her husband, Howard (Alistair Sewell), is fighting in the war. Disappointed that marriage was not a viable escape, Pearl (Mia Goth) turns her ambitions to getting discovered because she is special, but she also has a nagging feeling that something is wrong with her. It is a demented character study/coming of age story.
I was tempted to see “X” when it was initially released in theaters. I enjoy Ti West’s work: “The Innkeepers” (2011) and “The Sacrament” (2013). The porn premise ultimately dissuaded me. I began to regret my life choices after “Pearl” was released. The Brattle has showcased both films as a double feature two times in 2023 to date, and I ran out to see it at the first opportunity after a long virtual court day. The following includes spoilers for both movies.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
“Pearl” is the perfect pandemic film. It was very easy to relate to how germs impacted the characters’ lives: the isolation and rejection of social contact, the constant reminder of the seriousness of illness with the presence of the long-term disabled father (Matthew Sunderland-acting without saying a word!), the necessity of doing everything yourself because of the lack of manpower (due to the war and pandemic deaths) and fear of further contagion. Also everyone watching “Pearl” were wearing masks like some of the characters. Mitsy (Emma Jebkins-Purro), her sister-in-law, suggests that isolation leads to madness so Pearl’s condition exacerbated.
“Pearl” continues the theme of the American dream as a nightmare and inaccessible for immigrants and first generation Americans. Pearl’s mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright), a German immigrant, was probably not a barrel of laughs before the pandemic because of xenophobia, religion (being Catholic in a Protestant nation is not easy) and national origin (as a first generation American, I can confidently say that Americans seem frivolous to people from other countries, but Germans can speak to how much fun they are compared to us.) The war has exacerbated Ruth’s feelings as even her own daughter celebrates the death of her people, Germans.
Pearl’s hunger for fame is really her hope not to become like her mother, which she only succeeds in doing partially. In “X,” she occupies the same window looking down at younger people as her mother, but the dilapidated farm and a functional husband speak to how her path diverged from her mother. When Pearl warns Maxine about what life has in store, until the end, she showed less contempt than Ruth. Pearl is initially sympathetic and mimics Disney heroines by talking to animals, living in a dreamworld filled with singing and dancing, and heeding a call to adventure that sets her apart from others in her community. Wanting to be special, have a life filled with joy and people who love you are reasonable needs, but…..
Pearl is a budding serial killer so she should not have her dreams and desires fulfilled. She wants attention, but is aggressive if she thinks that someone is looking at her. Charlie the cow’s days are numbered. Nature or nurture? It is strongly implied that her parents know something is wrong with their kid, but her mom also resents her youth and hope and is envious. The big hint: what Pearl does to people who can’t fight or talk back starting with poor Mr. Goose and the eggs of her alligator friend, Theda. Pearl believes that she loves her dad, but she enjoys hurting him knowing that he cannot talk and considers killing him an act of mercy, one he conveys that he does not want, and is really a cover story for avoiding guilt. Also it was just disturbing how she bathed in front of him. When she goes to the movies, she drinks his medicine, morphine, and while she loves musicals, we do not see her reaction to a gruesome image of a soldier with a melting face. Morphine use could exacerbate her condition and cause hallucinations, but would not be the sole factor to her break from reality.
Does it help that Ruth treats her daughter like a child? Definitely not. Pearl is a married woman, which makes her mother’s actions seem more oppressive. My mom was strict, but damn, I could dress up in her old clothes. The first dress is light pink. As Pearl indulges her strange impulses, for instance when she sneaks out to go to the movies, she wears a darker pink dress. After she unleashes all her impulses and then she auditions, she wears a red dress like the wallpaper in parts of the house. Ruth instigates their ultimate physical confrontation, and Pearl acts in self-defense then makes things worse in her attempt to put out the fire that her mom started. Yes, Pearl fantasized about killing her parents, but it is possible that if her mother did not attack her, her impulses could have been limited to the vulnerable. Pearl’s subsequent actions indicate her true character.
“The Wizard of Oz” (1939) predates the events of this movie, but West references the film throughout “Pearl.” Pearl rides her bike everywhere and dresses like the Wicked Witch of the West. She ends up making out with a scarecrow and taking his hat. The hat reminded me of Rose the Hat in “Doctor Sleep” (2019). Her black and white movie fantasy becomes a nightmare with her disapproving parents appearing in the audience.
Her love of the movies leads to her early introduction to porn, which the projectionist (David Corenswet, who could play a Stark from the MCU) praises as reality, which Pearl hates and reveals her later reaction to the pornographers in “X.” The projectionist recommends a returning to Europe, a repatriation, reminiscent to “Midsommer” (2019), if she wants to pursue her dreams of stardom. From “X,” we know that Pearl never pursues this option, but elects to follow her mom’s advice, “Getting what you want isn’t what’s important. Making the most of what you have is.” She keeps her promise to her mother to give up if the audition does not pan out. Mitzy unwittingly enforces this decision by dismissing Pearl’s idea of going to Europe so when Pearl engages in the empty chair technique at Mitzy’s suggestion by pretending to talk to Howard, Pearl embraces the idea of making a perfect home if Howard will stay with her.
West does a few things better than any director today. It is rare for a movie to show men being afraid before something happens, and the father and the projectionist are sympathetic and vulnerable examples. We are not used to seeing men’s instincts kick in and try to survive. He also embraces making scenes uncomfortably long: with the scarecrow, the audition, the fallout from the audition, Pearl’s monologue and the closing credits.
When Pearl says that the farm animals are her best audience, the audition explains why. She initially disassociates then when she gets into her performance, she imagines the battlefield as joyful, fanfare backdrop to her performance. It is unsettling that she equates warfare with fireworks and festivities. The judges’ verdict is a blow: she is too old, not all-American and is not special. It is only after the decision that we hear Pearl speak German. Other autonomous people disagreeing with Pearl destroys her delusions of greatness and enrages her; thus why she becomes homicidal whenever she perceives rejection from the projectionist or Mitzy, the beginning of her hatred of blondes.
The state of the home reflects Pearl’s psyche, but also what a toxic example Ruth left her by leaving the cooked pig outside to rot. The final scene shows what Pearl thinks of as an ideal home, another scene that would work in “Midsommer” with the maggots writhing on the pig centerpiece and her parents’ corpses at the table. West depicts her clean up as a split screen like the pornographers’ camaraderie scene as Pearl brushes her hair alone in her bedroom. We get another hair brushing scene with her mother’s corpse. Brushing becomes a painful looking act in both films. Beauty is pain and futile under these circumstances.
If I have one complaint about this movie, I do not understand how Howard becomes a murderer in “X.” Somehow he becomes the very person that Pearl wished for: someone who loved her, accepted her for who she is and did not trigger her when he looked at her, which is in contradiction to the final scene. When Howard comes home, he looks horrified, and she would have killed him.
Just like “X,” the American Dream is a fatal ambition to have. What is the point of immigrating if it leads to this? Would it be better to stay home in a war zone or here? Even though my description sounds bleak, it was a funny film.