Pearl is beautiful, interesting at times, and well acted. But it’s not scary, and fails to make the characters compelling enough to feel high-stakes in the most important moments. Pearl is the prequel to “X”, and they share slasher vibes and a central location. But where X feels exuberant and almost playful, Pearl feels forced and tired. Even the impressive acting of lead Mia Goth can’t entirely pull it together. Pearl isn’t a terrible movie, but ultimately fails to impress.
Kat – 4.5
Wow…that was weird. This film is somewhat excruciating. It’s so strange. It’s only about one thing. The entire movie is essentially a backstory, a weird look into the mind of this character.The first 45 minutes are very slow at setting up the characters, but it does pay off at the end, and when it picks up it gets fun. There are several moments where the willing suspension of disbelief is thrown in the garbage, and those moments are the best parts of the movie.
Mia Goth absolutely shines as Pearl. I don’t feel like I understand the character, I don’t feel like I need to. She an enigma, she wants to be a star, she kills people. She has a 7 minute monologue that’s amazing.
It’s not scary in any way, horror is being extremely generous. It’s a drama, with some murder thrown in to raise the stakes, but the stakes never seem very high.
Kas – 7