Parents' Guide to Pearl

This prequel to X promises an origin story, and while it may leave off with more questions than answers, it's still a well-crafted gorefest and a vivid character study. Indeed, Ti West's Pearl, which was co-written by its star, only suffers when taken together in context with its predecessor. Since the older Pearl appears in the 1979-set X, we know that, no matter what happens in this movie, she'll survive. But as the prequel ends, it doesn't really suggest how the 60 years in between the movies might be filled. Although perhaps that's the point -- it might be a stifling, decades-long blur of nothing. But judged on its own merits, this is a very good movie, hinging on a powerful and sympathetic performance by Goth. West sets up many highly atmospheric shots and striking images, including a vicious rainstorm, a flirtation with a scarecrow, a red dress, a dance number, a gothic dinner table tableau, and a shocker of a tracking shot.

An antique adults-only film and "X" images and references link Pearl to Goth's doppelganger Maxine from the first movie. There are also references to the Spanish flu pandemic of the time and to people having to wear masks. But the real key to Pearl is Goth's modulated performance, which effectively shows the character's wants and needs and the emotional cracks that form like fault lines when things twist or go awry. The movie's tour-de-force is a lengthy monologue -- with Goth emoting in long, unbroken takes -- unloading her innermost thoughts and feelings to Mitzy. The words tumble out like boulders in an avalanche. Her transformation into a psychotic killer is no accident, and it doesn't happen overnight. It's the product of her environment, as well as her gender and the time period. To some, those might have been the "good old days," but to women like Pearl, they were a trap.