★★★☆☆ It's 1918, and the elderly woman that terrorised the screaming youths of X is still a tender young thing, stuck on her parents' farm and dreaming of a life of stardom in faraway Hollywood. How far removed from that wizened psychotic killer this cherubic vision now stands.

The horror prequel 'Pearl' is the origin story of the murderous senior citizen in the movie 'X.'

In 'Pearl,' indie exploitation veteran Ti West and leading lady Mia Goth trace the murderous mayhem of broken dreams on a Texas farm in the lush style of a midcentury melodrama.

Ti West's 'X' prequel is every bit as good as its predecessor.

In a prequel to the hit 2022 horror X, Ti West and Mia Goth explore the hardscrabble early life of their memorable villain

In the horror films Pearl and Infinity Pool, the 29-year-old actor delivers two pleasingly unhinged performances.

Ti West’s Pearl is a welcome (and bloody) addition to the X Cinematic Universe

Mia Goth shines madly in the delicious period prequel to X

A prequel to Ti West's 'X', 'Pearl' unfolds in a lurid psychological zone that's even scarier.

Venice: West and Goth re-team to tell the bloody story behind the early years of the killer from their "X."

With 'Pearl,' 'The House of the Devil' director Ti West expands porn-shoot slasher movie 'X' into a possible franchise by fleshing out the villain's backstory.

Taken together, “X” and “Pearl” make for a compelling double feature showcasing blood-spattered homages to different eras of film.

Pearl is horror auteur Ti West's surprise sequel to his successful feature X, having begun production as soon as the other was completed. The film is set some 60 years before the events of the first, during the height of the Great Influenza Pandemic in 1918, just before The Great War ended. Much like how

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Mia Goth (who co-wrote with director Ti West) gives a sad, scary performance that deepens the character and her saga

Remember Ti West's sleazeploitation horror/porn industry film 'X' from earlier this year? 'Pearl' is the prequel with Mia Goth again.

Mia Goth delivers an electrifying and truly scary performance as a dreamer who’s like Dorothy from ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ but homicidal.

Ti West's cracked ode to vintage Hollywood is made by its star, who gives a sparkling, go-for-broke performance in the title role.

Pearl gets a little too close to letting you simply laugh at her. We know she wouldn’t like that.

Director Ti West and star Mia Goth teamed up to write 'Pearl,' a 1918-set prequel to the 1970s-inspired slasher/porn homage 'X.'

Together, [Ti] West and [Mia] Goth created an inventive, unique slasher genre, and a movie worth rewatching several times.

Co-writer Mia Goth is phenomenal as a deranged teenager breaking loose in rural Texas as the flu pandemic strikes

Pearl is the tensionless prequel to the bloodier and more aesthetically daring X.

...as if Dorothy got sucked up by a tornado and dropped down in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — holding the chainsaw.

"Pearl" was the aged, sex-obsessed psychopathic matriarch and villain of Ti West's satiric, social commentary slasher picture "X." She was played by actress Mia Goth, who also played the libidinous teen whose Texas family farm has been rented by a cut-rate crew anxious to get in on the coming porn picture boom by filming one…

Filmmaker Ti West’s follow-up to ‘X’ is a masterclass in finding sympathy for the devil

Ti West pays homage in The Wizard of Oz in the prequel to his throwback slasher X – but Mia Goth really makes this one sing.

These horror movies had a lasting impact not only on audiences but on the actors behind the terrifying stories.

The rising star captivates as a frisky farm girl whose showbiz ambitions curdle into bloody revenge

Mia Goth's murderess gets an origin story. Read Empire's review.

This brilliant prequel to Goth and West’s previous collaboration, X, is a cine-fever dream set in the dying days of Spanish flu