_Pearl_ is a great character study that dives deeper in the stakes that an individual will go to attain success. It is unquestionable that the main question people will ask is, does it live up to X? While I do think it is a good film that I thoroughly enjoyed, it does not overtake its predecessor and that is completely okay. They are two entirely different movies but achieve their goals brilliantly. This film is…

MORE SPOILER-FREE MINI-REVIEWS @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/mini-reviews-2022-edition/ "Pearl may be a prequel to X, but Ti West turns this slasher into an incredibly complex character study represented - and co-written (!) - by Mia Goth. The new star of the horror genre deepens the protagonist Pearl, exploring her tremendous desire to fulfill her dream of wanting to become something more than a…

Despite quite a characterful effort from Mia Goth as the title character here, I wasn't really very impressed with this film. She lives on a farm whilst her young husband is off fighting on the Somme. She shares her life with her Germanic, rather authoritarian, mother "Ruth" (Tandi Wright) and her profoundly disabled father who cannot speak and who is entirely dependent on these two women. "Pearl" longs to escape.…

**By: Louisa Moore / www.ScreenZealots.com** The strange and unusual “Pearl,” a prequel to writer / director Ti West‘s “X”, is a different kind of slasher film. Creating an origin story for the title villain, the film tells the history of a farm girl dreamer with a serious mean streak. It’s a horror movie that’s unlike any other, a candy-colored, nightmarish dream world of lofty ambitions, brutal violence, and…