Ti West’s X Prequel Pearl Looks Pleasingly Deranged

Ti West’s X Prequel Pearl Looks Pleasingly Deranged

In Ti West’s X a sleeper hit after its release earlier this year a late-1970s porn shoot goes terribly wrong when the filmmakers decide a rural Texas farm is the perfect place to shoot their raunchy masterpiece. Now the slasher sensation is getting a prequel, and honestly, we did have some lingering questions about the character it’ll be focusing on.

It’s called, of course, Pearl, and it brings back the hardworking Mia Goth (who co-wrote with West) as the young version of her (spoiler alert!) elderly character in X. (Not to be confused with the other character she plays in X, who is the same age as Mia Goth.) Pearl takes us back to that familiar farm, though it’s much less dilapidated several decades in the past, and uses some lush retro flourishes to show us how even at a tender age, our horny, fame-hungry protagonist was already flirting with deadly violence.

And is that the same alligator who pops up in X? Hope so! Here’s the official synopsis for Pearl: “Filmmaker Ti West returns with another chapter from the twisted world of X, in this astonishing follow-up to the year’s most acclaimed horror film. Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions all collide, in the stunning, technicolor-inspired origin story of X’s iconic villain.”

Along with Goth, Pearl stars David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, and Emma Jenkins-Purro. It arrives in theatres September 16.

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Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.


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