PEARL: An ‘X’ Origin Story | Filmology With Spoken Nerd

Disney Sunday Horror Movie

It seems like just yesterday we were enamored by X, an amazing slasher flick starring Mia Goth and directed by TI West. X set a tone back in March, when it was released, for a momentous year for horror movies. Here we are, 7 months later, and we are receiving the gift of a prequel to X. I am talking about Pearl. Pearl is named after Mia Goth’s character. She had dual roles in X, playing Maxine as well. In this new psychological slasher, Goth not only plays the lead character, but she also co-wrote the script with TI West. 

This film looks amazing. It pays homage to the age of Technicolor and puts the viewer in mind of films like Mary Poppins. I was reminded of the Disney Sunday Movie nights of the eighties. The fusion of horror and the age of so-called innocence was gorgeous. Usually, when an idea like this gets cut into a film, it is sentenced to a low-budget, direct-to-video release. These movies are usually mediocre and are made with little taste or nuance. Pearl was quite the opposite. The gore was not too over-the-top, but the content of the film was shocking. 

The characters in Pearl were impressive. Each one served an essential purpose in the storyline. There was no dumbing down of the cast or compromises of integrity. Pearl’s character gives us a glimpse of what untreated mental illness looked like in 1918. These sentiments make me thankful to live in an age of better medicines and treatments. Pearl’s mother, a German immigrant named Ruth, has been handed a tough set of cards. Her husband is paralyzed; therefore, she is left with the responsibility of caring for him and keeping up the farm. She is gruff and mean but she is someone to empathize with, given her circumstances. 

I am happy that Horror films have taken a new direction. Directors are taking more chances because studios are open to trying new things. I am anticipating the third installment of this series, “Maxxine.”  I was admittedly skeptical of Pearl when I watched the trailer, but I left the theater amazed by it.  

About Nathan Conrad:

He’s best known as the Nashville-based Hip Hop/Indie Pop emcee Spoken Nerd, but this isn’t your typical rap project. He rhymes playfully at times, singing and/or rapping, juxtaposing his style with real-life situations and subject matter. Occasionally Spoken Nerd will find inspiration in films and will put it into song. With eight full-length albums into his career, the rapper has built a healthy catalog of music, which doesn’t include the number of EPs and singles released. His most recent release is the collaborative effort Grapes, with Juan Cosby.

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