The horror “Pearl”, the prologue of the recent “X – The Mark of Death” (2022), is receiving praise from critics and audiences. Presented at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this week, it reached 86% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and will be released in North American theaters this Friday (9/16), surrounded by expectations not only for the quality highlighted in the reviews, but for how it differs from its predecessor.
“‘X – The Mark of Death’ was a pretty standard horror, well executed without breaking the mold,” wrote the Canadian newspaper National Post. “But ‘Pearl’ is a little better in every way, thanks in part to a disturbing central performance by Mia Goth.”
Goth’s performance, who is also credited as co-writer on the film, is a constant among the production’s praise. “Goth infuses ‘Pearl’ with an almost never-before-seen depth and sadness that will make you feel legitimate empathy for this creature that harbors an evil not yet awakened,” Cinapse described. “Gothic transcends all boundaries,” added The New York Times. And it was taken up by the British Telegraph: “Gothic is absolutely extraordinary”.
The work of director and screenwriter Ti West was equally praised. “A true horror artisan,” described the Los Angeles Times. “One of the best horror directors,” praised the AV Club.
The applause is in particular due to the way in which “Pearl” reflects classic Hollywood influences, in contrast to “X’s” homage to slasher films. “Together, ‘X’ and ‘Pearl’ form an enthralling double program, with bloodstained homages to different movie eras,” compared the San Francisco Chronicle.
But the most curious thing about all of this is that the film is the result of chance and exists only due to the circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic.
The director was preparing “X” when the pandemic hit and all the productions were paralyzed, with no date to return. By insisting on shooting in the summer, the director and studio A24 found a solution: travel to another continent.
The chosen country was New Zealand, which at the time had a Covid-Zero policy. That is, the country strictly controlled who entered, placing them in quarantine for two weeks. And after that, everyone could move freely.
West and his cast had to isolate themselves as they waited for filming to begin. During this time, he and Mia Goth began discussing the past of Pearl, the elderly psychopath from “X”, whom the actress played with heavy makeup. And the conversation became so beautiful that the two began considering it as the basis for a prologue to the film, which West began writing with the actress’s help and which was filmed enjoying the same sets, in sequence.
“We had this infrastructure in place, with crew and cast, and we were building all of these sets,” West told Deadline. “We were spending all this effort to make a film in the only place in the world where, at the time, you could make a film. And it made sense for me to try to make two films while we were there, to make the best use of all of that. we had “.
West says he even considered making a sequel, but felt it made no sense at the time. “Because ‘X – The Mark of Death’ was a film about people going to a farm and horror followed. Going back to show more people going to a farm wasn’t that interesting.”
“We talked a lot about the character’s backstory,” continued West, “because we don’t have much of that in the movie. And it got interesting, like we went back and told his ‘origin story’, for lack of a term. , there was an interesting story to tell. “
At first the director didn’t know if A24 would agree to support two films, but he still developed the script. “We thought, ‘At best, we make a movie. At worst, it becomes a really well-developed backstory for Mia’s character, and’ X ‘becomes a better movie because of that,'” he said. “But all the credit goes to A24. They loved the script.”
When asked about the history of the film, Goth only said that “‘Pearl’ is a very naive young woman. She has a lot of ambitions and as we accompany her on this film, we see her trying to make the most of a really difficult situation. . “
“Pearl” is set in the year 1918, at the end of the Second World War and at the height of the Spanish flu pandemic. As for the tone of the film, some critics point out that it is something completely different from the original.
“Basically, put on Carrie White [protagonista de ‘Carrie – A Estranha’] within “The Wizard of Oz” – but make sure he’s seen “Dream City,” “explained” Pittsburgh Magazine critic Sean Collier.
Despite the praise and premiere this Friday in the US, the film still doesn’t have a release date in Brazil. Watch the production trailer below.
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Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
