History Film / Pearl2022

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Arguably counts as a RewatchBonus - the supporting cast are credited [[spoiler:in the order that their characters die.]]

** Pearl early on uses the pitchfork to kill a goose and feed it to the alligator. [[spoiler: We almost forget about that same pitchfork as we follow Pearl pursuing her dreams and The Projectionist at the same time. We don't see it again until The Projectionist, after getting freaked out by Pearl, attempts to start his car and drive away. She promptly [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice stabs him with it]].]]

* EndsWithASmile: [[spoiler:Pearl ends the movie by going on a rant to Howard (who has just returned from war) about her own lost dreams and how she never wanted to have children. Because Pearl still has delusions of being a star, she finishes the monologue by breaking into an enormous smile, which she then holds as the credits roll. Her smile therefore becomes increasingly strained and painful as tears start to come through...but she still doesn't lose it.]]

* NatureVersusNurture: [[spoiler:Does Ruth (Pearl's mother) correctly identify that there's something intrinsically wrong with Pearl, thereby necessitating her keeping Pearl within the boundaries of the farm as much as possible? Do Ruth's constant put-downs of Pearl's dreams, which at least partially stems from the former's bitterness over her own unrealised full and vibrant life, manage to infect the latter with GenerationalTrauma[=/=]ill thoughts, only fatal to others on top? Or is Pearl's transformation from a slightly odd young woman to a full-blown unrepentant serial killer a result of both inputs?]]

* HollywoodHomely: In her final monologue, when listing out the ways in which she feels she's suffered unfairly, Pearl outright says [[IAmNotPretty she's not pretty and resents girls who are]], which may win some eye-rolls from the audience given she's played by Creator/MiaGoth, this time sans age prosthetics. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] somewhat in that this may be only how Pearl perceives herself, as a result of the dramatic insecurities common to narcissists, the way [[AbusiveParents Ruth]] has repeatedly cut her down verbally, and [[spoiler: the rejection of the judges being specifically based on her looks; even then, the latter isn't because she's 'ugly', just that they wanted an all-American blonde.]]

* TheMentallyDisturbed: [[spoiler:From the very beginning, the film establishes that something is seriously wrong with Pearl as she has no compunction murdering small animals, and this is before she graduates to people roughly halfway through. Pearl's mother is more aware of this than she lets on and states it's one of the reasons she refuses to allow Pearl to leave the farm, as she knows ''exactly'' what her daughter is capable of.]]
** In addition to her more severe symptoms, Pearl acts like a child instead of the married adult she is, and loses herself in fantasy to the point of hallucination.

Definitely '''NOT''' to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/{{Pearl}} the animated film of the same name]].

*** The film ends with a twisted take on "There's no place like home," as [[spoiler:Pearl's first audition fails and she takes it as the permanent death of her dream, resigned to returning to the farm she didn't then ''or'' by the end want to live on]].

* MortonsFork: Mitzy is presented with one at the end of the film. [[spoiler:After Pearl confesses to her murders in front of Mitzy, she suspects her of having won the part in the dance troupe. Mitzy initially denies it, angering Pearl, who thinks that it's CondescendingCompassion and demands to hear the "truth." At this point, Mitzy is in a no-win situation. If she says she's telling the truth, it will only enrage Pearl further for "lying". If she says she won the part, it confirms Pearl's preconceived notions that Mitzy always gets what she wants. Either way, Pearl ''will'' kill her.]]

* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: While Pearl's father initially seems to have suffered a stroke, her mother later references his catatonia being due to a "sickness," though whether it's advanced polio, MS, or something else entirely is never made clear.

* ArmorPiercingResponse: Ruth gives Pearl a truly epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, lasting several minutes and ending with her demanding to know why Pearl thinks she's so above her parents and the life they've worked so hard to build. Pearl destroys her with a single-sentence response, and the confrontation turns physical immediately thereafter.

* InformedPoverty: Pearl and her family are supposed to be impoverished farmers, but their home contains beautiful wallpaper and furniture more appropriate for a millionaire's home. This may be an indication of [[RichesToRags how far the family has fallen]] with the father's sickness.
** Similarly, it makes no sense for a theater projectionist in 1918 to have his own car (it may be that he is "borrowing" a car that belongs to someone else.)

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:The Judges turn Pearl down after she dances her heart out. What makes this an example is that they have her do the audition, only to admit that they had no intention of hiring her no matter how good her dancing was because she isn't "young and blonde".]]

** Pearl wears a bright red dress when she auditions for the troupe, [[spoiler:kills her father beforehand, and later kills Mitzy.]]

* InformedPoverty: Pearl and her family are supposed to be impoverished farmers, but their home contains beautiful wallpaper and furniture more appropriate for a millionaire's home. Similarly, it makes no sense for a theater projectionist in 1918 to have his own car (it may be that he is "borrowing" a car that belongs to someone else.)

''Pearl'' (also marketed as ''Pearl: An X-traordinary Origin Story'') is a 2022 drama [[SlasherMovie slasher film]] co-written and directed by Ti West. It is a {{prequel}} to West's previous film ''Film/{{X|2022}}'', released earlier in the same year, and was shot in secret [[MovieMultipack directly after that film wrapped production]]. ''Pearl'' provides an origin story for the namesake character from ''X'', the female half of that film's EvilOldFolks [[BigBadDuumvirate duo]], who is again played by Creator/MiaGoth, who co-wrote this film and collaborated with West on its original story.

* TranquilFury: [[spoiler:After Pearl gets Mitzy to [[AmbiguousSituaiton (dubiously)]] confess to having been selected to the dancing troupe after her own effort failed, she maintains enough composure to play it off as if it weren't a big deal, but her dialogue makes it clear that she's ''very'' resentful. It's partly the reason she chases her down and slaughters her with an axe mere moments after.]]

* DaylightHorror: Several of the film's kills not only happen in broad daylight, but one soaked in a bright Technicolor style.

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: In addition to the old, bitter version of Maxine that ''X'' depicted her as, Pearl is also this to two other famous characters.

** Second is Carrie White from ''Film/Carrie1976''.[[note]]Not so much the version of Carrie from [[Literature/{{Carrie}} the original novel]], who didn't have the heart of gold that she had in the movies but was depicted as having long fantasized about killing her classmates. Creator/StephenKing even later compared her to the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} killers.[[/note]] Both are the beautiful titular main characters of their respective stories who live under the thumb of [[MyBelovedSmother their oppressive mothers]] and dream of breaking free, a dream that ends in tragedy. Creator/MiaGoth does an excellent imitation of Creator/SissySpacek's Texas accent, and both films even have a pivotal scene where [[spoiler:the main character hits her RageBreakingPoint after she's humiliated on stage while dressed in a rosy color (red for Pearl, pink for Carrie) during what she hoped would be the happiest moment of her life]]. However, Carrie was presented as a good girl whose suffering was largely the fault of those around her, from her mother to her school's AlphaBitch, and could've been accepted by her peers if not for them. Pearl, meanwhile, is presented as a psychotic, [[TheMentallyDisturbed mentally disturbed]] young woman with an ego the size of Texas and not nearly as much of a severe FreudianExcuse who kills animals for fun [[spoiler:and later moves up to people]], making her a far more malicious villain.
** Pearl's mother Ruth, therefore, becomes a [[InvertedTrope Virtuous]] Character Copy of Carrie's mother Margaret. While she's still presented as a jerk who's responsible for a lot of Pearl's suffering, she has a very good reason to resent her daughter, knowing that she's violently insane, kills things for fun, and is willing to do anything to achieve her dream of stardom.

** The end credits include an agonizing 30-second long iris, focusing solely on Pearl's face until it fades to black.

** [[spoiler:When Howard returns home, Pearl smiles to greet him and continues to do so for around three minutes while the credits roll, through which we see her face straining and tears starting to run as she struggles to maintain the smile. Her gaze, very slowly, drifts from facing Howard to [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall staring into the audience]] over the two minute shot.]]
* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Used to horrific ends in the final shot of the film.

* MortonsFork: Mitzy is presented with one at the end of the film. [[spoiler:After Pearl confesses to her murders, she suspects Mitzy of having won the part in the dance troupe. Mitzy initially denies it, angering Pearl, who thinks that it's CondescendingCompassion and demands to hear the "truth." At this point, Mitzy is in a no-win situation. If she says she's telling the truth, it will only enrage Pearl further for "lying". If she says she won the part, it confirms Pearl's preconceived notions that Mitzy always gets what she wants. Either way, Pearl ''will'' kill her.]]

** Second is Carrie White from ''Film/Carrie1976''.[[note]]Not so much the version of Carrie from [[Literature/{{Carrie}} the original novel]], who didn't have the heart of gold that she had in the movies but was depicted as having long fantasized about killing her classmates. Creator/StephenKing even later compared her to the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} killers.[[/note]] Both are the beautiful titular main characters of their respective stories who live under the thumb of [[MyBelovedSmother their oppressive mothers]] and dream of breaking free, a dream that ends in tragedy. Creator/MiaGoth does an excellent imitation of Creator/SissySpacek's Texas accent, and both films even have a pivotal scene where [[spoiler:the main character hits her RageBreakingPoint after she's humiliated on stage while dressed in a rosy color (red for Pearl, pink for Carrie) during what she hoped would be the happiest moment of her life]]. However, Carrie was presented as a good girl whose suffering was largely the fault of those around her, from her mother to her school's AlphaBitch, and could've been accepted by her peers if not for them. Pearl, meanwhile, is presented as a psychotic, [[TheMentallyDisturbed mentally disturbed]] young woman with an ego the size of Texas and no such FreudianExcuse who kills animals for fun [[spoiler:and later moves up to people]], making her a far more malicious villain.

* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:Pearl does this to her mother by pushing her into the fireplace.]]

* Foreshadowing: Arguably counts as a RewatchBonus - the supporting cast are credited [[spoiler:in the order that their characters die.]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The central thematic argument of what Pearl should do with her life gives credence to and exposes flaws within both main sides brought up -- whether she should listen to the Projectionist and pursue her dreams, as you only get one shot at life and it's better to do what you want than conform with the rest of society;f or heed her mother's advice and accept her life at home, since life isn't about getting what you want but rather making the most out of what you're given.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The central thematic argument of what Pearl should do with her life gives credence to and exposes flaws within both main sides brought up -- whether she should listen to the Projectionist and pursue her dreams, as you only get one shot at life and it's better to do what you want than conform with the rest of society, or heed her mother's advice and accept her life at home, since life isn't about getting what you want but rather making the most out of what you're given.

** The end credits finish by irising out the rest of the frame, focusing solely on Pearl's face until it fades to black.

** [[spoiler:Pearl's confession to Mitzy about her resentment toward Howard, miscarrying his child, harboring feelings of alienation and loneliness, and having a history of murdering animals and people]] unfolds in one unbroken close-up that totals at around seven minutes in length.
** [[spoiler:When Howard returns home, Pearl smiles to greet him, and continues to do so for around three minutes while the credits roll, through which we see her face straining and her eyes watering as she struggles to maintain the smile.]]