First Things First…
I was impressed with X. And Pearl is such a memorable villain. I assume we’re going to see her start out as a decent person with big dreams—just like Maxine—only to have those dreams dashed. I’m curious what specifically will cause her to break bad so dramatically. And I also want to see how similarly Mia Goth plays young Pearl versus how she plays Maxine.
5 Things I Like
5. The Rotting Pig
Things are never actually good in Pearl’s home, but at least they’re relatively stable early on. But once that dead pig arrives and sits on the porch, things go to shit.
When her in-laws bring the pig, Pearl has such a nice conversation with Mitsy and seems so normal and grateful.
We see the pig again when the projectionist drives Pearl home and notices it. By then, it’s in bad shape. And this is the morning after she locked her dying mother in the basement
And then when Mitsy brings her home after the failed audition, we get an extreme closeup of the pig rotting worse than ever, fully covered in maggots, with maggots even coming out of its eye sockets, and with the midsection eaten away.
Maybe the symbolism is a bit on the nose. But I like how every time we see the pig, not only does its level of decay go hand in hand with Pearl’s psychological state, but she’s more violent and has committed worse atrocities.
4. The Projectionist
“I’m what more civilized people refer to as bohemian.”
The projectionist
The projectionist seems like an all-American sweetheart when we first meet him. He’s full of compliments and gifts for Pearl.
But there’s darkness lurking underneath. When she goes to see him in his projection room/bedroom the first time, he shows her porn without asking if she’s okay watching something like that. Granted, she doesn’t seem offended or traumatized by it, but there’s something sinister in the way he intentionally subverts her expectations of what she’s about to see, then looms behind her as she watches it.
This had me wondering if Pearl was in danger with him, and what he might be capable of.
But he comes across as more of a standup guy again at Pearl’s house, when he insists on checking out the thudding he’s heard, worried it might be her father in need of help.
Either way—good guy or bad guy—he feels in control of the relationship… until he realizes something very wrong is going on at the house. And that something is Pearl. He keeps his composure until the very end, but he’s obviously terrified of Pearl as he tries to leave her behind.
This is a very strong performance by David Corenswet. I never quite got a handle on who this character is, and I think that air of mystery is intentional.
3. Killing Mitsy
Pearl isn’t a particularly scary horror movie. This final kill is the only part where I found my heart speeding up.
I liked Mitsy. She looks like the type of snooty girl who would be awful and judgy toward a farmgirl like Pearl. She looks like she’d believe her brother is too good for Pearl.
But that’s not the case at all. She’s kind toward Pearl, and she looks out for her by inviting her to the dance audition.
Of course, the fact that I liked Mitsy and wanted her to survive makes the kill that much more effective. The more Pearl reveals during her monologue, the clearer it becomes that Mitsy’s about to die a horrible death.
And Pearl doesn’t just kill her at the kitchen table, even though she could. The tension mounts as she lets Mitsy walk out of the house, only to chase her down with an axe.
2. Glitz Vs Grime
After watching X, I was amazed at how tonally and visually different this is. X is grimy, dirty, sweaty. I mean, it’s literally about making a porno. It fits that 1970’s vibe of drinking, smoking pot, sex in the barn sultriness…
… which is why I was so surprised to see how shiny and glitzy Pearl is. From the opening scene, everything is idyllic and full of hope. Even the score sounds like it could belong to Leave It to Beaver. And when Pearl rides her bike into town, the little downtown area looks so wholesome.
But there are signs of rot and decay beneath the surface that stand in stark contrast to the outer appearances. There’s the backdrop of the war and the Spanish Flu, with people wearing masks around town… the projectionist’s seediness… but most of all, it comes from Pearl herself…
1. Psychotic Break
“One day you’ll understand that getting what you want isn’t what’s important. Making the most of what you have is. Life rarely turns out how you expect. You need to be prepared for that if you ever want to be happy.”
Ruth
I don’t know how much to attribute Pearl’s murder spree to nature and how much to nurture. Certainly she’s living in less than ideal circumstances. I wouldn’t call her mother cruel, but she’s harsh and pragmatic, and doesn’t suffer Pearl’s dreams of stardom. Plus, Pearl resents having to take care of her father because it keeps her stuck on the farm.
But there are also signs all along of Pearl pushing her boundaries of sadism.
It starts with her killing a duck with a pitchfork, which is juxtaposed with her fantasies of stardom that she’s in the middle of acting out for the barn animals. She takes joy in feeding it to the alligator in the lake.
Pearl also abuses her father as she wonders whether he’s even aware enough to notice. (He clearly is.) She definitely considers dumping him right off his wheelchair and into the lake. And that’s before she fully breaks and suffocates him with a pillowcase.
Her mother says she’s seen it in Pearl for a long time, that Pearl does things when she doesn’t think anyone is looking, and it scares her. She tells Pearl, “Malevolence is festering in you, I see it. And I will not, in good conscience, let you leave this farm again.”
It’s like the shiny veneer on this film cracks more and more until Pearl completely sandblasts it away. And it’s played brilliantly by Mia Goth, who goes from sweet, innocent girl to shrieking demon in a heartbeat.
2 Thing I’m Mixed On
2. Howard’s Absence
This is Pearl’s origin story. She’s the star, just like she always wanted. So it makes sense to let her take center stage the entire movie.
It also gives us the chance at the end to see Howard return from war seemingly as a kind, innocent man. That means the only explanation for the cruel, murderous Howard we meet in X 50ish years later is that Pearl completely corrupted him. I kind of like that explanation, because it gives Pearl even more power.
But part of me wishes Howard was around for at least some of the movie, so we could see Pearl interact with him. The very first thing she says in her monologue, when pretending to talk to Howard, is, “I hate you so much for leaving me here, sometimes I hope you die.”
She makes it clear that she holds him responsible for her being stuck on the farm. The scene when she crushes the gator egg with her bare hand while seemingly fantasizing that it’s Howard exploding in a Boys-style bloody mess is a pretty good indication. But it’d be interesting to see them interact more, so we could see whether she really loved him or hated him, and maybe see her corrupting influence.
1. That Monologue
“Killing’s easier than you think.”
Pearl
Mia Goth is an amazing performer. I already mentioned that. And I have no doubt this took extreme skill and precision to deliver the way she does, especially with the camera staying directly on her face almost the whole time, for about nine minutes.
In fact, I feel like I’m supposed to heap praise on this scene. Like any fan or critic worth their salt should love this.
But the first time I watched the movie, I felt like this scene dragged and dragged and dragged. Every time I thought Pearl was done and they’d show a reaction shot of Mitsy, she kept talking.
Then I watched the movie again and appreciated this scene much more. Instead of focusing on how long it takes, I really paid attention to what Pearl says, how aggrieved she feels, how hard her life has been (and how hard she perceives it to be), all the ways her anger is righteous and all the ways she’s delusional.
It’s still a long, self-indulgent scene, but I came around on it a lot.
Tim Matassa
