TIFF 2022: Pearl Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

This March’s X was a nice surprise but who would have believed that the retro 1970’s slasher would spawn a prequel about the film’s killer Pearl let alone one so soon? That being said, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a crazy time to say the least as Pearl was filmed simultaneously with X and was greenlit before the production of both films began. If there should be any takeaway from both films, if it wasn’t already clear, Mia Goth is a very talented actress. Originally playing Pearl in X, unbeknownst to most audiences, she returns in this prequel that is different than X. However, this morbid character study still has the same edge even though it takes a little bit of time to get going which may disappoint those looking for the same kind of film. Nevertheless, Goth anchors the chaos with a dynamo of a performance as a woman fixated on overcoming her unfortunate circumstances and perhaps getting lost along the way.

Pearl of course follows the titular young woman (Goth) who lives and works on an isolated farm with her overbearing mother Ruth (Wright) while tending to her ailing father (Matthew Sunderland). When it looked like there were no other opportunities for her, the aspirational Pearl held on to her dream of escaping her life on the farm and becoming a star despite her mother who didn’t believe she’d ever amount to anything. The contrast between fantasy and reality and how those lines blurred over the course of a film set in a time where opportunities for women were rare to nonexistent made for a compelling arc as one can’t help but connect with her sense of wonder and want her to succeed though the way she went about it may not be normal. Coming to terms or not with reality only further fueled her devolution and some questionable actions and behavior as things got tense to say the least. Already knowing what would come of her, that arc was still a powerful one to watch.

Suffice it to say that the best part of Pearl was Goth as Pearl as she keeps it all together as it would not have worked nearly as well if not for the grounding force of her performance in creating a character that audiences may not agree with but can still empathize with in a way. Meanwhile, the film maintains the same retro style of X as its cinematography, production design, and score all work together to create a whimsical atmosphere.

At the end of the day, Pearl is some fun throwback horror and with a new film just announced, who knows what the X Cinematic Universe will bring?

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.