Pearl

She-Joker. Um perfil igualmente intrigante, psicologicamente meticulosamente construído e cinematograficamente brilhante de um antissocial instável que ultrapassa as fronteiras como o filme de sucesso premiado com Joaquin Phoenix. O cenário de uma família hillybilly numa casa na zona rural do Texas está ainda mais perto do meu coração. De facto, Ti West aqui dá pistas sobre o quão relaxados os inícios de outras famílias famosas do Texas poderiam ter sido... A estilização retro pitoresca do conto de fadas contrasta com os tons escuros da banda sonora, sugerindo a presença de um mal escondido e dando gradualmente espaço para a sua erupção. A personagem principal encanta os fãs do género não só com forcado ou machado na mão, mas também com uma longa confissão de uma tomada sobre o seu próprio distúrbio mental. Mia Goth é ótima. E os flashes audiovisuais de Kubrick e Hitchcock... um deleite formal para os interessados. (06/11/2022)

Some people say that a film is as good as its villain, and, Pearl is a perfect example. Mia Goth is amazing, on a small space she can play a naive girl, a broken woman, a demon-ridden bitch and a total psychopath, she has all of that in her acting register. Her almost ten-minute confession at the end, filmed in one take, blew my mind. Moreover, it's all supported by a script that flows naturally, has a logical development and almost reaches the level of Phoenix's Joker in terms of psychology. And the visual games with the camera, the opening with classical music in the style of good old Hollywood! I'm just shocked that after the botched X, Ti West was able to create something like this. This is a little horror treat, made with love and art, aimed at film connoisseurs. (26/06/2023)

A treat, but be prepared for it to be a completely different film than X. While the first film in the series referenced dirty exploitation classics, this one is more of a beautifully colourful naive drama, with nasty perversion and depravity bubbling under the surface. Mia Goth in the lead role is great, pulling it off with aplomb, the clear highlight of the film being her lengthy monologue shortly before the end. For me, compared to X, weaker as horror, but better as a film. (21/10/2022)

After the great X comes a steep fall that leaves bitter aftertaste. Ti West isn't my favourite director, in fact X is the only film I liked from him, so I was definitely curious about the prequel and the original villains, and the rave reviews overseas indicated it was going to be a hit, but here comes quite a disappointment. It's a bit hard to judge because Pearl definitely has its qualities, but from a horror perspective it's a big bummer. X gave a flashback to the hixploitation films of a bygone era, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in particular came to mind for everyone, it had juicy gore, creepy bad guys and soft porn in the first half. Pearl unfortunately has none of that and goes in a different direction, which will no doubt disappoint most viewers. Let's summarize the pros first. The setting in the wartime period of 1918 is nice, a very unusual time for a horror film, so welcome. Mia Goth gives the performance of a lifetime, she's good, psychologically disturbed, believable and able to command attention. The dialogue is also engaging and the cinematography isn't bad either, but that's it unfortunately. If this was a drama, it would be a decent film that is well made and acted, but horror fans will get nothing here. No hint of atmosphere, no gore?!! Okay, that one scene at the end it’s not enough. It's neither creepy nor dark, in fact ‘horror’ seems to me to be a misnomer. It's a psychological study of a disturbed girl in an unconventional period and if you accept that you might be OK, but for my taste it was a heavy slow burn drama and I certainly not what I was expecting. The five-minute monologue and the family dinner during the storm (quite possibly the best scene of the film) was interesting. 5/10. (21/10/2022)

After the fairly accomplished retro slasher X, Ti West delivers a Technicolor nightmare that absolutely works in its (intentional) kitsch. Unlike the previous film, Pearl is not predictable and avoids genre tropes, and Mia Goth proves once again that she is an incredibly energetic presence in contemporary genre cinema. (28/05/2023)