Nightmare Fuel / Pearl (2022)

• Pearl is shown as having some definite mental issues with her starting small by killing animals. After fantasizing about leaving the farm, she kills a goose and then feeds it to the alligator.
  • Later, she steals one of Theda the alligators' eggs, and brings it to the barn, and when she has a brief Imagine Spot of Howard returning from war. Then, Howard in her imagination explodes, and Pearl crushes the egg in her hand, and we're treated to the lovely image of fetus blood and yolk covering her hand.
• Pearl’s father is in a horrific situation. He is totally paralyzed by an unspecified disease, unable to do anything more than swallow or move his eyes, but he is fully aware of everything around him. He can do nothing but watch in obvious fear as his wife and daughter’s resentment grows into physical abuse and, eventually, murder. Specific mentions go to:
  • Pearl brings him into the bathroom as she bathes, which her mother seems perturbed by, but if that wasn't bad enough, she sharply pinches his hand with her fingernails in a way that's clearly painful, but he is unable to pull away from her.
  • Pearl at one point pushes her dad in his wheelchair to Theda's lake, and is about to feed her own father to the alligator in an effort to put him out of his misery. Thankfully, Ruth stops her, but if she hadn't the man would have undoubtedly been eaten alive.
  • Ruth isn't all that much better, as, in her crazed rant, she details about how her husband is a horrible burden to her in his disabled state and how much she suffers taking care of him and Pearl - in front of the guy. Even without all of the violence, that's still got to hurt. Then she takes it a step further by taking a knife and holding it to his neck, threatening to slit his throat. To make it worse, he then witnesses firsthand his wife burst into flames, and then see his insane daughter drag her to the basement.
  • Later on, after Ruth is burned and carried to the basement, Pearl cleans up her father and dresses him in a nice suit. Pearl then tells him how she loves him and, because of that, can't stand to leave him alone without Ruth, so she'll set him free. He sheds one Single Tear before Pearl smothers him with a pillow.
• When Ruth and Pearl have an argument, Ruth goes on a long, hate-filled rant where she vents her frustrations on taking care of a paralyzed husband while threatening to cut his throat. She is then accidentally set on fire and suffers third-degree burns. This doesn't kill her right away, meaning she suffered a slow, agonizing death in the basement.
  • This is perhaps the only murder in the film where Pearl actually kills someone by total accident, as the two women begin physically hitting each other, and Pearl accidentally pushes her into the fireplace, causing her dress to become wreathed in flames as she screams. Pearl then grabs a pot of water from the stove - which is hot, and splashes it onto Ruth, who's clearly still in pain. Ruth is basically half-dead on the floor, and Pearl drags her to basement, leaving her to succumb to her injuries. Even though she wasn't the nicest woman, it's still a gruesome fate for an old woman.
  • Perhaps the worst part of this is at the end of the movie, when Pearl goes downstairs and cuddles with her mother, taking shelter in the memory of a lullaby. Not for that reason, but because Ruth is far from where she was dropped, having crawled all the way across the basement to the other set of stairs. It has been, at absolute best, an hour since she was dumped down the stairs, likely longer, and she spent every moment of that time trying to escape.
• After Pearl's failed dance audition, she talks with Mitzy afterwards, mentioning that she badly missed Howard. Mitzy offers to lend an ear so she can say what she wants to say to Howard, which Pearl does...in an unhinged, six-minute-long monologue where she confesses to cheating on her husband, having a miscarriage, killing farm animals, and murdering her parents.
  • The monologue captures all of Pearl's feelings about her murders and motivations... and how she ultimately just wants to be loved. This doesn't make her any less frightening, as the hints of humanity within Pearl only serve to make her horrific actions more horrifying.
  Pearl: "Howard... I hate you so much for leaving me here, sometimes I hope you die. I'm sorry. I feel awful admitting that, but it's the truth. I was curious about other men. I'm sure you don't want to hear about a stranger satisfying your wife, and I swear it was only once. It was a mistake. It wasn't him that I wanted. I know that now. And I wish things could just go back to the way they were before, but I don't see how they could, not after the things I've done. Oh, Howard. I realize how this all must sound. Honestly, there was a time I was flattered to have someone as handsome as you pine over me. You're such a good person. I know that. I made sure to always be mindful with your heart. I never wanted you to feel jealous. It's an awful feeling like a rot, the way it just twists and turns at your insides. I know that aching so well. I feel it. Whenever I see others whose lives come easy because the truth is, I'm not really a good person. The reason I kept my eyes to the ground around other men was never to avoid hurting you. It's because I understood how lucky I was to have your attention. I may be a poor farm girl, Howard, but I'm not stupid. I spotted you the moment you came to live with us. You worked hard like the other farmhands, but you were different. You're from somewhere. A nice, comfortable place that you could return to whenever you wanted. I'm so desperate to have that. All my life, I've wanted off this farm and you were my ticket out. So... I made sure to never let you see who I really was. It worked like a charm, too. Then when you finally brought me back to your home to meet your family, it was just as I hoped. A life straight out of the pictures. At least that's what it felt like to me. And you didn't want it. You just wanted to stay here on our farm, and that made me so angry. How could you? I'm certain you knew I hated it, you must've. How could you be so selfish and cruel after all I've done to make you happy? I was even pregnant with your baby. I never wanted to be a mother. I loathed the feeling of it growing inside me. It felt like sickness. Pulling and sucking on me like some needy animal in a barn. How could I be responsible for another life? Life terrifies me. It's harsh, and bleak, and draining. I was so relieved when it died. It was one less weight keeping me trapped here, but then the war came and you left me, too. Why did you leave me, Howard? I hate feeling like this. So pathetic. Do people like you ever feel this way? I figure you don't. You seem so perfect all the time. Lord must've been generous to you. He never answers any of my prayers. I don't know why. What did I do? What is wrong with me? Please, just tell me so maybe I can get better. I don't want to end up like Mama. I want to be dancing up on the screen like the pretty gals in the pictures. I want what they have so badly, to be perfect, to be loved from as many people as possible to make up for all my time spent suffering. Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and the fear washes over me, 'cause what if this is it? What if this is right where I belong? I'm a failure. I'm not pretty or naturally pleasant, or friendly. I'm not smart, or funny, or confident. I'm exactly what Mama said I was, weak. I don't know why. What did I do? Why wasn't my family like yours? I hate what it feels like to be me and not you. I'm so scared that when you finally come home, you'll see me and be frightened like everyone else is. I know what I've done, the bad things, terrible, awful, murderous things. I regret them now, but I liked how they felt. I wish I didn't, but I did. At first, it was only animals smaller than myself. Nothing with feelings. Nothing that could hurt me back. It felt good. Killing's easier than you think, till recently with Mama and the boy from the picture house. They were different. They were more meaningful. I hurt them so they too might know what it feels like to suffer, but poor Daddy didn't deserve that. I wish I hadn't done what I did. Mama meant well. She had a hard life. She only wanted a home to feel safe in. I can see that. I thought I hated her, but I just want to feel safe, too. Lord... I made such a mess of things. I don't know how much more I can take. I need to clean this up. All of it. I need to make things right before you see me again. Maybe if I can turn this farm into a home for us like you wanted, things will finally be different. I can forgive. I can be who you want me to be if you'll just stay with me. Would you do that, please? I can't be all by myself anymore. It's too hard. We can love each other. I'll do that for you if you really meant all that "till death do us part." It'd be enough, just you and me here on this farm. All I really want is to be loved. I'm having such a hard time without it lately."
  • What's worse is that the camera never once leaves Pearl's face. You don't see Misty's reaction to mitigate the uncomfortableness. It's a horrifying one take that makes one feel like they're right there in the room with Pearl.
• Pearl sitting down for “dinner” with her parents’ corpses and the rotting pig that was left on the porch.
• The credits playing over Pearl’s tearful and pained smile after Howard returns and witnesses the horrifying display, with the film staying on her smile for at least three minutes.