"Pearl" has been kept secret until it was released. The film mainly tells the story of the villain of "X" - the evil old lady Pearl played by Mia Gauss in two movies when she was young. The film ruthlessly examines the process of the titular protagonist growing up in isolation.

Pearl is the only daughter of her mother (Tantie Wright) and her father (Martheim Sunderland), and the three of them live on a farm a few miles away from the town. Growing up, Pearl had no one to talk to except performing a one-man show for her beloved farm animals on the farm. In addition to living a farm life that has been restricted, Pearl's husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) is sent to the front line to fight, which puts her in a particularly lonely stage in her life. Pearl spent most of his time rereading her husband’s letter to her, fantasizing about his return. Unfortunately, Pearl's mother always pulls Pearl back to the harsh reality she imposed on Pearl, which includes forcing Pearl to care for her paralyzed and incapacitated father alone, with her father's life hanging on the line.

"You only have one youth"

Despite the strict control of her mother, Pearl is still a character with a strong sense of self, especially about her age and status in life. It can be said that she even had a little psychological fear of her age, even more so in the movie "X", because she was closer to the end of her life than to the beginning. But in both films, she desperately wants to create and feel the valuable things in her life, and she knows time is the most important thing, whether you are young or old.

In Pearl, she eventually begins to resist her tyrannical mother. One of the motivations to follow her inner self is David Colensweet’s character “The Projectionist”. When Pearl confides her suppressed family life to him, he tells Pearl: “You only have one youth.” This sentence is deeply imprinted on Pearl and becomes a spell for her and her decisions. This sentence is remembered in memory of "X", and Old Pearl vented her suppressed anger on the young film staff who came to her farm, which is also the emotionally lingering farm where she grew up and never left.

Lonely Life

When witnessing Pearl's desolate growth process, it is not difficult to understand how a group of carefree and confident young people will have an impact on Pearl from the beginning, regardless of what they are doing. First, most of Pearl's conversations are unilateral, either to the animals on the farm or to her weak father, neither physically responding to her. More important and more influential, her sister-in-law, Misty (Emma Jenkins), told her that participating in the city dancer selection is the only chance that Pearl can leave the farm. During the audition, Pearl was cruelly rejected and told that she was not young enough and was not blonde, which are two things she could not do. This is a central moment in the story as it cements Pearl’s hatred for the environment and time he lives in.

Back to the movie "X", Pearl not only has never experienced any close friendships that are close to her peers, but also witnessed some things that a group of young people create by combining family affection with fearlessness, especially the filth and teasing of porn, which is the most extreme fire of Pearl's deep hatred for them.

Exploring her youth and identity is something Pearl has always longed for, but instead, her entire life revolves around all the ways she sacrifices herself, based on the physical state of the people around her, and because of Pearl's mother's desire to control Pearl has to be responsible for the strict care required when taking care of her father. Even when Pearl no longer needs to take care of her father or obey her mother, she is still hindered by her husband Howard, whose heart problems seem to have not had sex for several years, according to a scene in which Pearl expresses deep sorrow and despair about the issue to Howard.

At the same time, she also witnessed young movie stars liberating themselves in the way she had always wanted, and in her later years she was still worried about not finding that freedom in her life. The only freedom she has found so far is to vent her anger on those who torture her, and the so-called torture is just Pearl's self-feeling.

"Pearl" is an intimate and profound character study, and Mia Gauss' impeccable performance conveys the strong and painful emotions Pearl suffered. The film "Pearl" completely interprets the actions taken by Pearl in "X", greatly improving the content and theme of the movie "X", making "X" a more memorable movie, and making Pearl a character with much depth than what he saw at first.

Although "Pearl" is a prequel to "X" and its shooting method is more secretive than "X", it is not so much a horror movie as an ode to a classic movie itself.