Pearl  ★★★½ 

THE process of film distribution is now strange indeed.

Years ago you saw a movie at the cinema and then it came out for rent six to 12 months later.

Now there is no little to no gap most of the time, which is great.

Occasionally, in Australia you can even see a film on a plane that cannot be seen locally via any other means. How the hell does that work?

The other week, for example, I was stunned to find Ti West’s Pearl available on a Qantas flight to Darwin.

I think I broke some kind of time record for starting an in-flight movie.

Last year West released the highly-praised horror film X which featured an end-credits teaser for a prequel called Pearl.

Even better, Pearl had already been filmed when X came out and was in post-production.

Pearl was released in the US late in the same year, 2022, and received similar praise, particular for Mia Goth’s lead performance.

In X, a group of amateur pornographic film-makers, including a character played by Goth, are terrorised by an old couple whose farmhouse they rent.

The old woman, Pearl, also played by Goth under heavy make-up and prosthetics,is a complicated sociopath whose psychosis seems to be centred around missed opportunities from her past and manifested in a hatred of youth.

Set decades earlier, Pearl gives us that character’s back story, focusing on the formative young adult year during which she tipped over into full-blown madness.

Goth is nothing short of fantastic in the role. It may be one of the best performances I’ve seen in a horror film from any era.

It’s completely assisted by the time period, setting and wonderful production design.

Where X was firmly placed in the grimy and messy 70s horror aesthetic of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pearl couldn’t be further away.

The sweeping opening score, musical number, bright colour pastel and melodramatic acting style puts us in Wizard of Oz territory as Pearl greets her friends the farm animals wishing she will one day become a star.

This sequence is ultimately punctuated by a moment of violence that reminds the audience this Dorothy is not to be easily embraced.

The homages to Wizard of Oz continue throughout the film which continues to nicely walk a line between old-school Hollywood melodrama and modern slasher.

At the centre is always Goth whose performance is highlighted by a terrific six-minute monologue straight to camera.

West has also finished the third film in this loose trilogy. Maxine will focus on the period after the events in X and Goth’s character rise to fame in the adult film world.

If it’s as good as X and Pearl this will be a must-have boxed set for every horror film collector.

Watched on a plane.