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i recently watched 'x' and 'pearl' and i'll be the first to admit that they're not "older" movies like the rest that i've written about, but i kept hearing about them and wanted to know what all the hubbub was about. horror/thriller is my favorite genre so it wasn't something that i was expecting to really change my viewpoint on anything (like 'the breakfast club' or 'the truman show'). i fully knew what to expect out of these movies and i still felt like my resulting opinions on both of them were different than i thought they'd be.
let's start with 'x'. i feel i should start by saying that i almost entirely avoid movie trailers if i can help it when i'm going into something blind, just because i like to enter a viewing experience with a clean slate and with no expectations as to what a movie will present to me. the first thing that i noticed was the setting and tone-- it paid homage to classic slashers like texas chainsaw in such a good way. i loved the general setting of the movie and how it felt familiar but new at the same time. for much of the movie, i expected that the killer would be the old man, howard. most of the first half of the movie had me wary of him and i thought that he was going to be the main threat; this was mostly because the old woman, pearl, was more creepy than menacing. she mostly served the purpose of leaving unease in any scene she was in. it was a great subversion of expectations to have pearl be the main killer and howard a sort of cohort to her questionable and murky machinations.
before i continue and talk about the kills and the second half of the movie, i want to talk a little about the cast of to-be-killed(s). the adult film star cast was a likable (if naïve) group of characters, i can't really remember the last time that i was actually rooting for the 'disposable' slasher victim group, but the first half of the movie really spent a lot of time making them all likable in their own ways. they're never outwardly ignorant, rude, or condescending to the old couple and it kind of makes their demises that much more impactful because they didn't feel like throwaway characters. although the obvious standout performance is from mia goth as maxine (and pearl), i felt that brittany snow did a wonderful job with her performance as bobby-lynne. one thing that i've seen brought up a lot is rj's hesitance with lorraine's decision to be in the film. a lot of people felt that he was being a hypocrite in his disapproval of her choice, and while this is true, i also think that multiple things can be true at once. lorraine deciding to do the film out of the blue was inconsiderate to rj; if lorraine had known from the start that she was helping rj film an adult movie, i think that the argument of rj being hypocritical would hold more weight. i supported lorraine's decision, but also felt myself feeling bad for rj being put in the position he was put in. it's not a good feeling and something of that magnitude should be discussed beforehand. alas, i digress.
the movie takes a sharp turn with rj's sudden (and bloody) death that spins the tone of the movie from a creepy uneasy thriller into a full-on slasher. the movie waiting to show its hand until this point was a brilliant display of patience. jumping from being grossed out and uncomfortable to shocked at the jarring kill was excellent and exciting to watch. the movie took its time to let the viewer marinate in the shock before winding back down into eerie with pearl's impromptu dance performance while coated in rj's blood. the rest of the crew's deaths weren't as impactful, but plenty memorable in their execution. the through line being that all of the cast were respectful and patient with the elderly couple because they had no idea what had happened to the rest of their friends until it was too late. i especially enjoyed bobby-lynne's death scene and the way it's called back to in 'pearl' (more on that later). the conclusion was satisfying in that the villains get what they had coming to them, and that maxine earned her right to live. the reveal of the televangelist being maxine's father felt random and unimportant, but it did add some backstory to parallel pearl's and contextualize what she saw in maxine once i'd viewed 'pearl' as well.
one little detail that i loved was all of the crew's deaths being foreshadowed in one way or another. the film loves callbacks and it has them in spades. it was a well thought out movie with fun characters and i've already watched three times as of writing. it's not perfect, but it's an exciting story with a satisfying ending and awesome final girl.
final rating: 7/10
'pearl' was a different beast entirely and i loved it even more for that. i hadn't given thought to the fact that a prequel featuring the main baddie from 'x' would be set in the midst of the first world war, but as someone who was never good with history class, it was a very fun time period to set the movie in and left me feeling lost in the simple type of life that was lived during the time. the entire movie feels like it's shot, scored, and lit like a golden age hollywood movie. i immediately felt the influence of the wizard of oz in the color grading, and loved the score. for most of the film, you almost forget that you're seeing the origins of a mentally ill woman's descent into a killing machine. it does such a good job of making you root for pearl despite her uncanny nature and whimsical, unrealistic dreams. there are several points in the movie where the viewer is faked out; when i first saw the projectionist and he makes a point to impress pearl, i assumed this was going to be a situation where she was taken advantage of because of her beauty and that it would be what stoked the flames that snowballed into what she had become, but this was far from the case. he was simply another person caught in the middle of her manic episodes and unstable mental state.
the struggles that pearl continually faces in the film are relatable enough (despite the overarching, specific situations being entirely foreign to the audience) that i found myself hoping that she'd get her way even when time and time again things wouldn't. the feeling of wanting more out of your life as a kid, wanting an escape from home and leaving your responsibilities behind, and craving fame and acclaim are all things that most people have thought about or yearned for at one point in their lives. it was clever (although i'm unsure if it were intentional) that the movie makes pearl out to be a young girl when she's already married and has been pregnant, because it infantilizes her to the viewer, making it easier to feel for her despite the fact that she should already have at least a faint grasp on how adulthood works. it's entirely possible that she *is* a teenager in the movie (it's never stated outright what age she is) and that she simply had those experiences young because of the time period, but it's murky to say the least.
the kills and spiral of pearl's mental state were the peak of this movie. seeing pearl become more and more unhinged and incapable of hiding her murderous tendencies was exciting and terrifying. the moment in the movie that stood out to me the most was the dinner argument between pearl and her mother, in which pearl screams at her mother so loudly it peaks the microphone. it's this moment that truly cemented her on the path she would take towards 'x' and why she became how she was as an old woman.
mitsy served as a perfect contrast to pearl, an ideal that pearl felt she'd always be compared to and wallow in the shadow of. it's why pearl "hates blondes" and her underlying resentment towards mitsy is a great element of her character. she never viewed mitsy as an equal, or a friend. she was utterly and hungrily jealous of her to a degree that she'd never be satisfied until she knew she could best her. the way she refuses to wish mitsy any sort of luck before the dance audition solidifies this. pearl didn't see mitsy as a person, and her several minute long monologue near the end of the movie testifies to this point; to pearl's twisted psyche, mitsy was the personification of everything she could never and would never be, and it infuriated her to no end. it's a tragic moment when mitsy finally catches on to what pearl's done and realizes that she wouldn't be leaving alive.
i could rant for pages about the little things in 'pearl' that i loved, but i think this is a good start and talks about most of the strong points that the movie has in terms of why i absolutely adored it. the credit roll with pearl's feigned joy was one of the creepiest things i've seen in a while and it summarized her character so well in such a concise way.
final score: 9/10
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