Pearl
A24 | Release Date: September 16, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NMEPaul BradshawMar 17, 2023
Less a horror than an occasionally bloodthirsty character portrait, West dances us through the mind of a serial killer with a visual flair that soars on the big screen. Read full review
100
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMar 16, 2023
Pearl’s torment – empathetic, frightening, and ludicrous all at the same time – is believable largely because Goth single-handedly wills it to be. Read full review
100
Film ThreatBobby LePireOct 4, 2022
West’s bold, stylish direction and brilliant use of color and shadow push Pearl into a whole different level of horror. Goth carries the picture with a bit of acting that is subtle and over-the-top at the same time. How? I don’t know, but I know it works wonders. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 3, 2022
The film itself is terrifically accomplished and horribly gripping, with golden-age movie pastiche and dashes of Psycho and The Wizard of Oz. Read full review
93
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiSep 3, 2022
Pearl isn’t just great; it retroactively makes its predecessor great, too. It’s a handsome and sad horror drama, with scenes and shots and performances that will make you wonder if you’re supposed to laugh, cry or shriek. Until you realize that the best part of this film is that you are absolutely supposed to do all three. And you probably will. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyJoshua RothkopfSep 16, 2022
Co-scripting with her director, Goth is the standout, displaying a verbal vigor and earthiness she's been unable to tap so far (not even in movies like Nymphomaniac and A Cure for Wellness). Read full review
91
Original-CinThom ErnstSep 15, 2022
What begins as a weird tribute to The Wizard of Oz becomes a genuinely creepy horror. West chooses deliberate methodic movements rather than jump scares to terrify the audience, and the film is all the better for it. And he never lets loose of an underlying sense of humour that is as clever as it is demented. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubPhil PirrelloSep 15, 2022
Unlike X’s dusty fun, a melancholy atmosphere looms over the carnage, all underscored by West’s fascination with the tragic ends that come from building future hopes upon the shakiest present realities. If only more horror movies dared to dream as big with such emotionally charged results. Read full review
90
We Got This CoveredAlejandra MartinezSep 13, 2022
The larger-than-life feelings Pearl experiences are brought to life around her through the technicolor-inspired cinematography and shot composition, making for a beautiful, sometimes moving, and delightfully unhinged journey. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneSep 14, 2022
If nothing else, Pearl is a showcase of the powerhouse that is Goth. She deserves all the accolades and then some. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 15, 2022
Pearl isn’t really about the jump scares and tropes we see in so many horror films. It’s more of a case study of a disturbed mind going completely off the rails, filled with ghastly images (you can imagine what happens to a roast pig left on the porch for days) and exquisitely constructed tension-build moments. Read full review
85
SlashfilmLex BriscusoSep 6, 2022
Pearl is an ambitious and bold work of horror that calls into question what it means to deserve love and the bad things we sometimes do to receive it. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeMar 18, 2023
Goth is riotously entertaining throughout, but two specific scenes, in both of which the camera rests solely on her face for an extended shot, capture the full force of her unnerving talent. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyMar 17, 2023
With its lurid libidinous action and over-the-top murders, Pearl is a jokey spin-off of a jokey film. Imagine – and we mean this as a compliment – the slasher equivalent of The Naked Gun 2. Offsetting the self-indulgence, Goth sinks her teeth into the goose-killing heroine and spits out all the feathers. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanMar 16, 2023
The Godfather Part II of on-the-farm slasher-movie prequels, this is an American gothic shocker with a lot to say — and an awards-worthy lead performance from Mia Goth. Read full review
80
Time OutAnna SmithMar 15, 2023
Part drama-thriller, part OTT slasher, Pearl doesn’t particularly resolve its internal conflicts, but it does hold the attention. Read full review
80
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsMar 14, 2023
It’s a strange and beguiling film, and I’m just going to lay down my cards and say that, on the back of her all-in collaborations with Lars von Trier and Claire Denis, Goth’s presence makes any movie a must-see. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 12, 2022
Things get gross and gory — it’s a Ti West film, after all — but more than anything else, West is having fun. Lurid fun, yes, but fun nonetheless. And if you’re a fan of horror and filmmaking, you will, too. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 3, 2022
This new instalment stands on its own unsettlingly odd merits. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramSep 3, 2022
Clever, violent, and wicked, with a fabulously unhinged turn from Goth, West’s period psycho tale truly does have the X Factor. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 3, 2022
In her first outright lead role Goth is straightforwardly tremendous, and gets to move through the considerable breadth of her talent even within individual shots. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJan 19, 2023
Watching Pearl, the first movie I thought of was The Wizard of Oz. This is as if Dorothy got sucked up by a tornado and dropped down in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre—holding the chainsaw. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 14, 2022
It’s experimental without being off-putting and it uses its 100 minutes to build out a character who was frustratingly incomplete in X. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJack KingSep 3, 2022
Flimsy logic notwithstanding, Pearl is the superior of the two heavily-stylized slashers, partly because it dedicates so much time to building the eponymous antiheroine from the ground up. Read full review
70
Paste MagazineMatt DonatoSep 15, 2022
While West’s sleazy ‘70s slasher remains one of my champion horror titles of 2022, Pearl is more like giddily deranged add-on downloadable content that makes for an unexpected bite-sized treat. Kudos to the accomplishment, and it’s an ax-swinging slice of bad-vibes hoedown kookiness, but there’s a particular substance missing that X oozes. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 15, 2022
There is some sex and plenty of gore, but mostly an atmosphere of feverish, lurid melodrama leavened with winks of knowing humor and held together by Goth’s utterly earnest and wondrously bizarre performance. Read full review
70
PolygonRafael MotamayorSep 13, 2022
With stronger visuals than X, a phenomenal and ambitious performance from Mia Goth, but also an emptier and more meandering plot, Pearl loses the fun parts of Ti West’s pastiche. At the same time, it still delivers plenty of thrills and killer moments. It’s both a vividly painted nightmare and a showcase for its star. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 3, 2022
Its distinctive look and oddly appealing antihero (picture Norman Bates as Shelley Duvall might have played him) could actually make this the more popular of the two films. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 3, 2022
As a cleverly packaged pandemic production with narrative echoes of that global anxiety, it’s at the very least something fresh. A gruesome portrait of another young woman hungering for a life greater than the fate she’s been handed, it makes an amusing companion piece to X. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNick AllenSep 16, 2022
Pearl gets a little too close to letting you simply laugh at her. We know she wouldn’t like that. Read full review
60
CineVueChristopher MachellMar 16, 2023
Pearl is notable as a pandemic film, situating itself in the middle of the Spanish flu outbreak, though much like its engagement with sex, violence and entertainment, and its treatment of women, the film sets the table for a discussion but doesn’t quite make a full meal of it. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 15, 2022
West, one of the genre’s true artisans of sticky dread, certainly has fun seeding a handsomely mounted and shot (by Eliot Rockett) period melodrama with the trappings of imminent violence, from the crimson red wallpaper to a maggot-swarmed suckling pig. But Pearl rarely justifies itself as a franchised standalone built on the early psychosis of its bloodthirsty, unstable ingenue. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandSep 3, 2022
It’s an impressive feat of filmmaking, but one that reveals nothing new, a major misstep for a film seemingly dedicated to doing just that. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDerek SmithSep 14, 2022
Pearl is ultimately an empty exercise in style masquerading as a character study, and for as fantastic as Mia Goth is, her performance mostly succeeds at making Ti West’s homages just a little bit easier to stomach. Read full review
50
Washington PostOlivia McCormackSep 14, 2022
As a prequel, it never finds its footing, bogging down a potentially fascinating character study with unnecessary details — traveling old paths instead of seeking new ones. “Pearl,” like the version of the character we see in “X,” is stuck in the past. Read full review
50
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaSep 12, 2022
From its anachronistic homages to its tensionless filmmaking, Pearl — Ti West’s prequel to X — doesn’t have nearly as much to say as its predecessor. Mia Goth gives it her all as a villainess who dreams of stardom, but the film can’t decide what to do with her. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleZaki HasanSep 12, 2022
Taken together, “X” and “Pearl” make for a compelling double-feature showcasing blood-spattered homages to different eras of film. Read full review
40
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiSep 13, 2022
For those who may not have seen X, Pearl may be intriguing enough for them to go watch the original film. As both a prequel and standalone horror film, however, Pearl comes up short. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 14, 2022
It’s self-indulgent and self-referential, more a humorless counterpoint to “X” than a precursor. Read full review
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