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In March 2022, audiences were gifted by the A24 horror gods when Ti West (The Innkeepers, House of the Devil) debuted his latest creation, X. X follows a young woman named Maxine “Max” Minx (Mia Goth) as she aspires to become a famous adult video actress. Set in 1979, Max travels through Texas with her producer/boyfriend Wayne (Martin Henderson), pornstars Bobby-Lynn (Brittany Snow), and Jackson Hole (Scott Mescudi/Kid Cudi), the director, RJ (Owen Campbell), and RJ’s girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenna Ortega). They find a farmhouse that matches what they’re looking for, and they ask Howard (Stephen Ure), the elderly owner, to rent his guest house. Not long after they begin filming, they notice strange and unpredictable behavior from Howard’s wife, Pearl. Howard explains that Pearl suffers from dementia and, as a result, struggles with sundowning syndrome.
The film shares many similarities to the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, both being set in rural Texas in the 70s. The farmhouses in both movies look eerily similar, and they both certainly have their fair share of gory murder scenes. X even opens up in the same way that Texas Chain Saw Massacre does, with the police surveying the bloody aftermath of the events that take place. The main theme of the movie X, however, focuses more on the beauty of youth, sexuality, and longing for the past. As Pearl grew older, her self-worth diminished, and she became resentful and violent towards the young guests on her property. Mia Goth actually plays both roles in this movie, as the young and beautiful Max, as well as the old and decrepit Pearl.
After the credits, there was a sneak peek at West’s next movie, Pearl, which is meant to be a prequel to X. Little did we know at that time, that Pearl was secretly filmed back-to-back with X, allowing for a shorter period of time between releases. This article will tell you everything you need to know before Pearl comes out!
Editor’s Note: This piece was last updated on September 4 to add new clips and details about the Blu-ray and DVD release.
What Is Pearl Going to Be About?
“An X-traordinary origin story,” is the best way to put it. As a prequel to X, Pearl will focus on Pearl’s life when she was still young and beautiful in 1918, during World War I. It will dive further into the motivation behind her murderous actions in X. The farmhouse where the X massacre took place, will also be featured in the new movie, as it was transformed into a boarding house during the war.
Pearl wants nothing more than to leave her small town and become a famous movie star, beloved by all, and no one will stand in her way.
Is There A Trailer for Pearl?
Yes; along with the post-credit teaser that came along with the release of X, West has finally dropped a full trailer for his upcoming film. You can watch the trailer above. There is a lot to unpack in that trailer. Let’s break it down. We see Pearl praying to become “the biggest star,” so that she can get away from her current life. There are several obstacles in her way to achieving that goal. First, she is tasked with farm chores and taking care of her disabled father. Additionally, her mother seems a bit overbearing and heavily against the idea of Pearl leaving the farm. She also has competition. We see Pearl attending an audition where another girl there tells her “they only take one gal per town.” In her corner, however, she has Howard, presumably before the two of them got married. He encourages her to live her own life. He also shows her one of the adult films of that time period, telling her it’s a film no one else has seen, and that eventually, it will be legal. Ironically, that’s exactly what the plot of its predecessor, X, is about.
On top of these elements, we see Pearl killing a goose with a pitchfork and feeding it to the alligator in her pond, pushing her father to the very edge of the dock, where the gator is waiting, and we see her covered in blood in another scene. It looks like this movie will have no shortage of gore and violence, but it’s hard to determine from the trailer alone what’s real or if some of these images are only a part of some twisted daydream of Pearl’s. Since the trailer, we've also seen a few clips from the movie that were posted on Instagram.
Who Are the Cast And Crew of Pearl?
Mia Goth will, of course, be returning to reprise her role as Pearl in her youth. David Corenswet (The Politician) will take on the role of a younger version of Howard, her husband in the first film. Tandi Wright (The Wilds), Matthew Sunderland (The Nightingale), and Emma Jenkins-Purro (Bygones) are also included in the cast list with unspecified roles. Based on the trailer, it looks like Sunderland and Wright might be playing Pearl’s wheelchair-bound father and overbearing mother, respectively. Emma Jenkins-Purro looks like she will have a role where she is viewed as competition by Pearl.
As he did with X, Ti West wrote, directed, and produced Pearl. His co-producers are Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss, who all were producers for X as well. A24 is teaming up with Little Lamb productions to produce and distribute Pearl.
When Does Pearl Come Out?
Pearl will be hitting the theaters exclusively on Friday, September 16, 2022. Based on the time frame from X’s release dates, we can only assume that Pearl will become available to purchase on streaming platforms sometime in October. The movie already has a Blu-ray and DVD release date and is currently scheduled to arrive on physical formats on November 8, 2022.
What’s In Store For the Future?
While Ti West admits that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was his main influence behind creating X, the style of horror will be different for Pearl. X explored the impact that independent filmmaking had on society, whereas Pearl will focus more on the impact that Hollywood filmmaking has on society. He describes his approach to creating Pearl as a melodrama that will feel more like a “demented Disney movie,” based on the works of 1950s director, Douglas Sirk.
West has also confirmed he’s been greenlit for a third installment in this franchise, which will take place after the events in X. His plan all along was for the three movies to have distinctly different styles and approaches and can be watched independently of each other. For the full cinematic experience, it’s recommended to watch Pearl in theaters starting September 16. But if you’re more of a homebody and want to wait for the digital or DVD release, you won't have to wait much longer either!