Pearla masterpiece of psychological horror not to be missed
Released direct to video in France in 2023, Pearl is the second part of the trilogy started by Xand which ended with MaXXXine last July. Unlike its predecessor, inspired by 70s slashers, Pearl adopts an aesthetic closer to classic Hollywood cinema, with notable influences from films such as Psychosis by Alfred Hitchcock or The Wizard of Oz.
The film catapults us into 1918, at the height of the First World War, where we follow Pearl, a young woman isolated on a farm with her sick father and an authoritarian mother. Dreaming become a movie star and to escape his monotonous existence, he soon collides with a brutal reality, and allows himself to be overwhelmed by his darkest impulses.
Far from a simple horror film, Pearl it is above all a psychological drama that deeply explores loneliness, frustration and excessive ambition. The feature film is carried forward by the exceptional performance of My Gothicwho embodies with rare intensity a heroine who is as disturbing as she is moving. His subtle and nuanced acting gives the film constant tension, culminating in a critically acclaimed eight-minute monologue scene that would have deserved Oscar recognition.
Thanks to careful staging and brilliant photography, Pearl manages to impose a unique visual style, oscillating between changing colors and an oppressive atmosphere. Ti West offers a captivating and disturbing work here, where every shot seems constructed to accentuate the duality between the dream and the brutal reality of the main character.
A critical success, but a mixed reception at the box office
Despite its status as a cult film in the making, Pearl it was not a huge commercial success when it was released in theaters. The film only collected 10 million dollars at the global box office, a modest figure compared to other productions of the genre. In France it was even distributed directly as video on demand, thus limiting its exposure to the general public. However, this low financial score must be put into perspective, Pearl being an independent film with a limited budget and benefiting from a reserved release.
If the public did not come en masse to the theaters, the critics were unanimous. Pearl shows an excellent score on review platforms, including 92% positive reviews ON Rotten tomatoes. Many critics have praised the film’s ability to renew the horror genre, offering a clever mix of psychological tension and stylized violence. The director Martin Scorsese he himself said he was deeply disturbed and fascinated by the work, claiming that it kept him awake after seeing it.
If the success of Pearl was decent in theaters, its release on Netflix gave it a second life. Thanks to the platform, the film was able to reach a wider audience, finally discovering this pearl of independent horror cinema. But time is running out for those who still want to see it, because the release from the catalog is scheduled for February 15. A unique opportunity to discover this fascinating thriller, which continues to leave its mark with its disturbing atmosphere and careful narration.
Source: Cine Serie
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