157. Pearl; movie review

 

PEARL

Cert 15

102 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, gore, threat, sex, domestic abuse

Is Mia Goth the most underrated movie actress around today?

Certainly, her performance in Ti West's strange but arresting Pearl, is worthy of very high praise.

It is the polar opposite of her role in Emma three years ago and, once again, demonstrates her considerable range.

The British-born star plays a young woman from a farm in America's deep South in 1918.

Her husband (Alistair Sewell) is away at war and she is kept tightly in check by her domineering German-born mother (Tandi Wright).

Both women combine looking after the farm and tending to Pearl's father (Matthew Sunderland) who is in a vegetative state after illness.

But the pressures of her life have had a dramatic effect on her psyche as is soon discovered when she sticks a pitchfork through the neck of a goose and feeds it to an alligator.

Goth is terrific as the young woman who is convinced she should be a movie star but becomes more and more unhinged as the movie progresses.

Meanwhile, Ti throws in myriad weird curve balls and startling imagery.

Pearl is difficult to characterise - there is certainly enough violence to describe it as a horror and yet Mrs W. who doesn't usually enjoy the genre, was engaged because much is left to the imagination.

Its overall success is down to the intriguing way in which Pearl's character is developed and Goth's impressive execution.

Reasons to watch: Mia Goth is terrific

Reasons to avoid: Will be too weird for some

Laughs: One

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Mia Goth, full name Mia Gypsy Mello Da Silva Goth, was born in Southwark, London, to a Brazillian-born mother and a Canadian-born father. The family lived in Brazil until Mia was 12 years old and then moved back to the UK to settle in Lewisham, London.

The final word. Ti West: "It's been really nice and endearing to hear people rally around Pearl and Mia's performance in particular. It's been a cool experience that I've not had before. I would like as much success for her as possible."

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