Pearl
2022 · Directed by Ti West
Original language: English
- horror
- drama
The story
Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions collide.
What it’s like
Saturated Technicolor-style color against a dry, sun-bleached Texas farm, with the 1918 setting rendered in warm, grainy 35mm texture that makes the red barn, yellow wheat and sickly green pond feel almost too vivid. Ti West frames in long, unhurried takes and symmetrical compositions, often holding on a face or a gaping doorway while the cicadas and creaking boards do most of the talking, and the score is sparse and unsettling, swelling only for dance numbers and Pearl's daydreams of stardom. The mood is hot, claustrophobic and darkly comic, a slow simmer of repression that breaks into sudden, sharp violence and a few grotesque, graphically gory scenes, including one startling sequence of bloodshed near the climax. The emotional register swings between pathos, dark humor and dread, and Pearl's arc follows a young woman's longing for escape hardening into something frightening. Best for viewers who want atmospheric, old-Hollywood-styled horror with a sly sense of humor, and who can tolerate blood and sexual content.
More films like Pearl
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Pearland we’ll explain which ones fit you.
