Mia Goth as the titular character.
This prequel to X (2022) reveals the origin story of super-horny Pearl (Mia Goth), albeit as seen in the full bloom of her youth, and, like its predecessor, it's a slow burn that goes berserk during the last act. Also like its predecessor, the same recap omerta that I applied for my essay on that film applies for this one. It is best approached cold, after seeing X. That said, since it has no context outside of the film if you have experienced it, I will say that it's a very solid psychological character study that sheds welcome feature-length expositional light on what led to the events of the first film's second half. It's all compelling, though admittedly not necessarily what your garden variety gorehound is there for, but especially great is the sequence where Pearl, while pretending to be speaking to her absent husband, expounds on her lifetime of misery, an existential bleakness that has led her to delusional fantasies and brutal, cold-blooded murder.
If you're looking for a bloodbath, there is gore and violence, though not much, but what we do get is quite intense due to the psychological and emotional weight of the script and Goth's stunning performance. Definitely not for all tastes, but it's intelligent, disturbing, and thankfully not dumbed down for a more lucrative PG-13 rating. Writer-director Ti West is a talent who bears watching, and the same goes for the amazing Mia Goth. RECOMMENDED.
Poster for the theatrical release.
No comments:
Post a Comment