I’d heard Ti West was working on a sequel to his movie X (which I wasn’t a huge fan of). I went to see this one in total ignorance, not even realizing it was a Ti West film. And then the farm (and that alligator pond) comes on screen, and I realized, hey, this must have been what I’d heard about. But nope… to my ongoing surprise, there’s a post credit for the actual X sequel (Maxxxine). When I wasn’t looking, a sudden X / Ti West cinematic universe appeared.

Pearl is the early life of the crazy murder lady from X… now it’s 1918, the tail end of WW1 and the beginning of the Spanish Flu. Pearl is a young lady living on a farm with dreams of being in the picture shows. But her mother and father need her on the farm and don’t think much of her dreams. Things do not go well for the folk in her life.

Mia Goth is credited as co-writer on this flick and good for her. That’s the way you do it. I’ve never had much of a connection with her in the films I’ve seen, but this one made me sit up and notice. She’s really good. At first, her country-fied accent seems a little on-the-nose and wouldn’t have worked if this was a completely serious film. But her performance is wide-ranging… sometimes subtle, sometimes totally over-the-top camp, and then a killer monolog near the end of the film. She’s impressive… she made an impression.

The whole movie is good too… certainly my favorite of Ti West’s so far. It’s not particularly scary but it is gleefully suspenseful… as we wait to see what’s going to set Pearl off this time… or to wonder if she was ever quite sane to begin with.

There is some pretty terrific camera work for some well staged and artistic kills. Very recognizable in a “what weapon is about to be swung and how gory is it going to be” kind of way.

Yeah, I’m now a bit more of a Ti West <i>and</i> Mia Goth fan with this one. I think I should rewatch X and see if I can see what everyone else was seeing. That’s a good sign for this flick, making me want to reconsider an earlier film.

Score: 86