Pearl
Short description
Pearl is set in 1918 on an isolated Texas farm, where a young woman cares for her ailing father while enduring the stern control of her devout mother. She dreams of a glamorous life like the one she sees in films, and when the chance arises to audition for a dance troupe in a nearby town, she pursues it at any cost. Ti West directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Mia Goth, who plays the title role. It is the tenth of the thirteen films West has directed, following X and preceding The Farmer's Daughters in that sequence. The cast also includes David Corenswet as a projectionist, Tandi Wright as Ruth, Matthew Sunderland as the father, Emma Jenkins-Purro as Mitsy and Alistair Sewell as Howard. Kevin Turen, West and Jacob Jaffke produced the film for A24 and Little Lamb Productions, with 114 crew members credited.
Made for about one million dollars, Pearl earned roughly ten times that amount worldwide, a strong return for a modestly budgeted production. It runs 102 minutes and mixes drama, horror and thriller elements. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from around 157,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.2 out of 10 from a much smaller base of roughly 2,700 votes. A film critics' rating of 7.8 out of 10 from 218 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Tandy Wright, who played the mother of the main character, was the intimacy coordinator on the set of the horror film "X" (Ti West, 2022), and director Ti West offered her the role of Ruth immediately after finishing filming "X". According to Ti West, Wright had to learn German urgently for the role, and as a result, she began to speak German so well that she even fooled two German crew members.
- Ti West and Mia Goth worked on the script during a mandatory two-week quarantine imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic in New Zealand, communicating via "FaceTime" (a video and audio calling technology). This was before the start of filming the horror film "X". They both hoped that the company "A24" (an American independent entertainment company specializing in the production and distribution of films and television programs) would give the "go-ahead" for filming "Pearl". Fortunately, that happened.
- The film was secretly shot concurrently with the horror film "X" (2022), with "Pearl" serving as a prequel and showing the life of the main character in 1918, long before the events depicted in "X".
- Pearl's insane smile, shown in the end credits, was not originally planned, but Ti West seized on this acting find and decided to leave it in the film. The scene serving as the background for the end credits became one of the most tense in the entire film.
- Initially, the film was intended to be black and white, but A24 (an independent company specializing in the production and distribution of films and television programs) began to object, and the film was shot in vibrant color.
- Pearl’s manic smile in the finale wasn’t planned, but Tai West seized upon this acting choice.
- Tandy Wright, who played the mother of the main character, was the intimacy coordinator on the set of the film "X," and director Ti West offered her the role of Ruth immediately after filming. According to Tay West, Wright had to urgently learn German for the role, and as a result, she began to speak it so well that she even fooled two German crew members.
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