Pearl Reviews Roundup: X Movie Prequel Also A Horror Masterpiece?

Pearl is a new horror / slasher film that stars Mia Goth in the lead role and the supporting cast includes David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Alistair Sewell and Emma Jenkins. The film is helmed by Ti west with a screenplay from the director and the lead actress herself (Ti West and Mia Goth). The film is one of those indie horror films from A24. It is also not a standalone film, the film is a prequel to another film that released earlier this year- X. This film is a prequel about the main character from X. The premise of the film is familiar but haunting at the same time,

“Feeling trapped at the isolated family farm, Pearl is tasked with attending to her ailing comatose father, while under the harsh micromanagement of her cruel mother. Lusting after the glamorous life she has seen depicted in the movies, a collision of her ambitions, temptations, and repressions arrive creating the villain she feared she would become.” The film released recently and the critics have given out their thoughts on the film. Let’s what they think of the film.

Pearl Reviews Round-Up: A24 Gets it Right Again?

Pearl has gotten amazing reviews from all the critics. The film is a prequel to the already well received film X. However, the prequel is said to be even better than the original film. Mia Goth’s performance is Oscar worthy only if the Academy was open to recognizing horror films. Ti West once again directs the film fantastically. Mia Goth taking up screenwriting credits works in favor of the film has being the co-writer to Ti West has elevated her performance to another level. The film has a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 87% and an IMDb score of 7.6/10. Apart from the ratings, lets hear some comments regarding the film.

Sarah-Tai Black
Globe and Mail
“It has the ability to reach new heights of self-reflexive pleasure but settles instead for pastiche that, while well-crafted, feels lifeless and devoid of true feeling.”

Sarah Jane
Austin Chronicle
“Pearl is a loving homage to early Hollywood films, from the sweeping score to the bathed-in-Technicolor nightmare.”
Original Score: 4/5

Meagan Navarro
Bloody Disgusting
“Pearl makes for a vastly different viewing experience from X thanks to its drastic shifts in style, tone, and cinematic influences, but with enough connective tissue to enrich its predecessor.”
Original Score: 4/5

Olivia McCormack
Washington Post
“The film fails to deliver the scares its increasingly ominous atmosphere promises.”
Original Score: 2/4

James Berardinelli
ReelViews
“While Goth was very good in X, she functioned as part of a larger ensemble and didn’t really stand out. In Pearl, however, she is the movie.”
Original Score: 3/4

Derek Smith
Slant Magazine
“Pearl is ultimately an empty exercise in style masquerading as a character study, and for as fantastic as Mia Goth is, her performance mostly succeeds at making Ti West’s homages just a little bit easier to stomach.”
Original Score: 2/4

Tim Grierson
Screen International
“This new installment stands on its own unsettlingly odd merits.”

Zaki Hasan
San Francisco Chronicle
“Taken together, “X” and “Pearl” make for a compelling double-feature showcasing blood-spattered homages to different eras of film.”
Original Score: 2.5/4

Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
“West is having fun. Lurid fun, yes, but fun nonetheless. And if you’re a fan of horror and filmmaking, you will, too.”
Original Score: 4/5

Perri Nemiroff
Perri Nemiroff (YouTube)
“A Mia Goth tour de force. Another A+ chapter in Ti West’s celebration of cinema and exploration of the gnawing devastation of rejection and having dreams out of reach … and in Pearl’s case, the violence and chaos that can spark.”
Original Score: 4.5/5

Christy Lemire
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
“If Douglas Sirk made a slasher flick, it would be Pearl.”

Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
“Pearl is a gift.”
Original Score: 4/4

Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
“Goth delivers an electrifying and truly scary performance.”
Original Score: 3.5/4

Joshua Rothkopf
Entertainment Weekly
“Goth makes the most of a croaking, lengthy one-take monologue, during which a new horror monster is born. Pearl is the rare origin story where you see the breakdown happening in real time.”
Original Score: A-

Nick Allen
RogerEbert.com
“Pearl gets a little too close to letting you simply laugh at her. We know she wouldn’t like that.”
Original Score: 2.5/4

Andy Crump
Inverse
“Pearl proves that A24’s first horror franchise is Mia Goth, who pulls double duty once again in a movie that manages to out-perform the original in nearly every way.”

Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
“West, one of the genre’s true artisans of sticky dread, certainly has fun seeding a handsomely mounted and shot (by Eliot Rockett) period melodrama with the trappings of imminent violence…”

Adam Graham
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Sep 15, 2022
A slow burn — the setting is known as Powder Keg Farms for a reason — and it builds to a riotous climax as Goth guides viewers every loopy, daffy step of the way.
Full Review | Original Score: B+

Phil Pirrello
AV Club
“With Pearl, writer-director Ti West both embraces and elevates what horror movies can do, in a way that further solidifies his standing as one of the best things to ever happen to the genre.”
Original Score: A-

A.O. Scott
New York Times
“It’s… a bit thin and undercooked, but Goth’s performance transcends its limits.”

Hannah Strong
Little White Lies
“Those who found something to like in the strangely sex-negative X might get something out of this. Or you could just watch an actually good film about ambition and obsession…”

Peter Debruge
Variety
““Pearl” does hold up on its own, a fun-house-mirror “Imitation of Life” full of insider winks to horror classics…”

Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
“In her first outright lead role Goth is straightforwardly tremendous, and gets to move through the considerable breadth of her talent even within individual shots.”
Original Score: 4/5

David Rooney
Hollywood Reporter
“A gruesome portrait of another young woman hungering for a life greater than the fate she’s been handed, it makes an amusing companion piece to X.”

Kate Erbland
indieWire
“It’s an impressive feat of filmmaking, but one that reveals nothing new, a major misstep for a film seemingly dedicated to doing just that.”
Original Score: C+

Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have enjoyed Pearl as much as I did: but it’s clever, limber, gruesome and brutally well acted. A gem.”
Original Score: 5/5

William Bibbiani
TheWrap
“More than just a fantastic prequel: it successfully illuminates and recontextualizes its predecessor, dramatically improving a film that was already acclaimed to begin with.”

Pearl is currently playing in theatres near you.

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