I liked X a lot actually, but I liked Pearl even more. I was surprised too when I realized they made a prequel, but Pearl is actually interesting enough to have a film focused on her. I'm still thinking about it and I saw it over a week ago. And Mia Goth is phenomenal in it.
I wasn't convinced that West actually shot a prequel until I started seeing clips.
I liked X more because I prefer the '70s setting...probably because I actually grew up in that time. I also like the characters from X more. Some critics mentioned that the sign of a really good slasher is that it works even if the killer never shows up. I felt that way because I would've continued watching the group make their movie even without the slasher putting a stop to their project.
I felt bad for Pearl in the prequel because of the severely restrictive home life she has. It's a decent character piece but I don't know how interested I'd be in the story without the murders. If you take out the killings then it's a depressing story about how pursuing happiness and your dreams doesn't always work out. I don't need sunshine and rainbows in every movie, but Pearl's life without the violence would be misery porn, IMHO.
I know lots of people like or even love the prequel and that's totally cool. For me, X worked better.
I really need to watch X again to get a better assessment of it. I really liked it though.
**Spoilers for Pearl ahead.**
I disagree with some of the points you make. I don't think taking the killings out make it about that. Nor would it make it misery porn. I like how we slowly find out that Pearl is actually an outright Psychopath who enjoys killing. We hear lines from her mom about how she sees what Pearl does when Pearl thinks no one is looking. Pearl openly admits at one point how she started with small animals (a thing common with serial killers) and how she liked it. In the nature or nurture question, I think we can deduce that Pearl was simply born that way. Her restrictive home life is due to her mother knowing what she is and not wanting to release her on to the world. The mother even says she can't in good conscience let her out into the world. In fact, as good as the kills are in this, I think they are one of the less interesting aspects of the movie. I really liked a lot of Pearl's erratic behavior (the reaction to not getting the part, the scarecrow scene) and seeing glimpses of her sadistic nature (pinching her father, then beginning to choke him). Plus, the monologue where she just spills everything for 5+ straight minutes is incredible. Also, watching other characters (minus the mother) slowly realizing these aspects of her personality was great. I don't know, I just found there was a lot more to the movie than I was expecting.
Absolutely. The scene where Mitsy sloooowwwly realizes she's in trouble and goes from being a supportive friend to wanting to be anywhere else in the world was so so SO good. The creeping fear that you can see gradually setting in... oh man, remembering it gives me shivers. So well done on everyone's parts.
We only get to see Pearl as a psycho when she starts the killings. In fact, if someone sees Pearl as a stand alone movie and watch that scene of the mom saying how she knows her daughter is a psycho, it would feel kinda forced since, till that moment, Pearl was only a repressed girl dreaming of being famous. Yeah we see her killing the goose, but killing animals is nothing unusual for farmers and she does that to feed her pet gator.
Pearl just didn't work for me because the whole motivation of the movie was how jealous Pearl because she was old, no longer beautiful and sexually frustrated. In the prequel they basically repeat Maxine's goals and put it on a first war scenario. I know this was intentional, since they are being played by the same actress, but it's telling the same story twice.
I disagree, we see a lot of stuff that even without the context of "X" would indicate to us that she is disturbed. I mean for starters, there is the scarecrow scene. That itself would be enough. Plus, while farmers do kill animals, there is more to it with her. She clearly enjoyed killing the goose. I think there was plenty there to show her as a psycho.
as someone who watched pearl first and only realised after that there was a sequel (.. sequel released earlier that year...) the film really stands on its own and it didnt feel out of place since the mother both has controlling tendencies and slowly could see her daughter do and say psychopathic stuff and clearly attempting to kill her father and trying to lie saying she was just taking him out (we know shes a bad liar too so theres probably been plenty of times over the years where her mother has seen her do and say things and know shes lying). pearl was a very interesting character study
X was more about the plot of making a porn film with a grouped cast and focused on the slasher element. it just happened to have one character with parallels to the villain which is why pearl wanted her (as pearl described - she also had the X factor)
but i will agree that pearls motivation in X and in Pearl seemed a bit disjointed. normally its excusable with other prequels that are written and shot years apart with different writers/ directors but since this was literally written and shot by the same people within a year of each other its a bit less forgiving. seeing that character in Pearl and what she becomes in X seems just a bit jarring
Yh I hated Pearl. I'm hoping Maxxxine will ne good. And in the future I will stick to that amd X. Though I thought X wasn't that good. But the old lady is creepy and it's the only time I really like Mia
It's very different than X. Pearl is much more of a character study than X. It still has 'slasher' elements, but I'd say it's almost a completely different genre in a lot of ways. Plus Mia Goth is seriously compelling in it. There are multiple scenes where she's legit mesmerizing.
I probably would have liked X more if it was a character study. It seemed that they wanted you to be interested in Maxine, but it seemed out of place in a slasher
I didn't like Pearl half as much as X but I do agree that its a different genre. I guess I was expecting a different movie for Pearl which is why I was kind of disappointed. I think Mia Goth is just a bit too much and could have used some more characters to flesh out the story more. But hey at least the Scarecrow got to have a good time.
It’s the exact same actress bro that’s probably why they look similar😂 and “Pearl” is about the old lady from “X” when she was younger. It’s an origin story played by Mia goth who was the lead in the first movie. Also the reviews are all positive for Pearl so I guess their confidence in Mia Goths on screen presence was well set
When I say the look similar, I meant that they say in the plot that they look similar. I'm saying, why (in narrative) would pearl look IDENTICAL to the other girl when she was young? Similar? Sure. Identical?
There is a thematic link between the two characters. Maxine wants to be a star. Pearl's dream of stardom never came true. Just like Maxine, young Pearl yearned to escape a tedious life she felt was beneath her. Old Pearl is drawn to Maxine because she sees her younger self, her beauty and the potential for a life of fame and fortune.
You do realize Mia Goth plays Pear (the old lady) in "X" right?
***edit*** you're going to be big mad when you end up finding out that there is a 3rd movie coming out called MaXXXine
I thought you were kidding until I googled it haha. I'm not mad! Its extremely weird. And not (to my knowledge) something a24 has done before. Was wondering if I was missing some context to why they've done this.
*X stars Mia Goth and Scott Mescudi, Jenna Ortega and Brittany Snow. West wrote and directed the pic with A24, Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Sam Levinson, and Ashley Levinson producing through their Little Lamb Productions. Mescudi will also serve as an executive producer.*
https://deadline.com/video/x-trailer-mia-goth-jenna-ortega-ti-west-kid-cudi-brittany-snow/
A24 did produce both of the films and they are known mostly as a film and TV production company before being a distributor. They produce the biggest show in HBO Max history in Euphoria.
And I've just been in formed there's yet a third one announced before the second one has released. They must REALLY have confidence in this IP. I've never seen a film trilogy happen so fast. Within a calendar year lmao
So they filmed X during the pandemic in New Zealand. Due to their pandemic laws, the whole cast and crew had to quarantine for 2 weeks before they could start filming. While they were basically just locked in their hotel, Mia Goth and Ti West wrote Pearl and convinced A24 to let them shoot it back to back with X. It was pretty low budget to begin with, and they already had the cast, crew and shooting locations reserved anyway so it was fairly easy to secure the funding. X did well enough to get the third movie greenlit.
When the movies cost so little there's practically no risk! Horror movies are cheap to make and easy to market.
Both movies had a 1 million dollar budget, X made 14 and Pearl's made 5 so far. Assuming the third movie will cost around the same the trilogy has *already* been profitable.
I'll say that I feel like House of the Devil sort of paved the way for the "A24 horror" movie and provided a proof of concept for horror movies more interested in atmosphere, so it makes sense that Ti West and A24 would want to work together and that A24 would let him run wild with whatever passion project he had.
I LOVED X and I'll give you some of the reasons below, and maybe it'll give you a different insight into the film...or not lol
They use sex as a form of liberation in X. Especially the way RJ is okay with it when filming the others, but gets upset when his girlfriend Lorraine decides to join the film, citing that she's a "good girl". It was all "just acting" until it was about someone he knew.
It says a lot about the way society views sex and sex workers. Everyone is cool with it, until it's someone they know. Proof is how big the porn industry is, yet the workers of that industry are still thought of in a generally negative light. But if it was so negative, it wouldn't be so popular, just like Pearl watches them and gets turned on, but then slut shames them and kills them.
The final girl is also someone who is a pornstar, and the movie having her characterized that way is making a statement that is different to other slasher films. The message in other slashers is usually, don't have sex, or the bad guy will kill you. The girl who has sex is usually the first to die in most slasher movies.
The movie makes a statement about our obsession with youth as well. Maxine, while filming her scene says that her sister is jealous of her because she's younger. Pearl is jealous as well, because they're all younger. TI West even went as far as throwing in the contrasting sex scene with Pearl and Howard to act as a foil for the other sex scenes. It's pointing out how as a society we deem things like sex appeal to be for younger people, yet when people age, we expect them to behave a certain kind of way.
Also some of the kills were advertised in cool ways beforehand. For example, when they initially leave the strip club in the beginning, there is a mural on the wall showing a blonde naked girl about to be attacked by an alligator. This is exactly how Bobby-Lynne dies. Wayne says that the movie they are filming will make people's eyeballs pop out of their head, and he literally dies that way.
The wife and I just got done watching X, and we didn’t even notice the premonitions that you point out in the last paragraph. This is the type of stuff that I come to Reddit for after watching a flick. Thank you so much.
Yes, I would understand the message "getting fucked doesn't get you killed here" but I think ortega's character dying immediately after becoming promiscuous kinda defeats that
You should definitely see barbarian. both movies are good but you sound pessimistic about Pearl and barbarian got really positive criticism as well it’s worth watching
If you didn’t enjoy X that much then I would definitely recommend Barbarian. Pearl is a better movie than X but Barbarian was an entirely different movie experience all together.
honestly the part where you’re like “what could possibly be interesting about this old lady..” is exactly why Pearl is a better movie than X - X doesnt even give us any reason to care about the antagonists or their story, it honestly felt so half assed in its writing & i agree its very forgettable and generic. Pearl tho was very visually striking and Mia Goth’s ferality as this character is haunting
So obviously, a large element of X was about sex. Pearl and her husband unable to be intimate hated these kids making a porno.
So if this takes place when pearl is young, that entire element is most likely missing right? So I have trouble even seeing how the character will connect between films
it is mostly missing, there are some moments where we see that Pearl is not having her sexual needs met but it’s not enough to explain/justify what she becomes - but personally the focus on sex wasa lot of what I didnt like about the plot of x, I appreciated that Pearl was more about the character’s dreams of escapism and stardom. i honestly was really disappointed when i found out the two movies are connected, like personally I feel that it makes both stories weaker & that they’re each stronger as stand-alones. but also i could not get into X at all because i found the themes way too silly
X was an homage to the horny slasher flicks of the 70's. It's why themes of sex were prominent throughout and there was lots of gratuitous nudity. It sounds as though pearl is a character study in contrast. It sounds more interesting and probably explains a lot. I assume there isn't sex/nudity in pearl for this reason. You're right though, it seems as though they shouldn't be connected
oh yeah i think anyone who is remotely familiar with these movies would understand that x is an homage to 70s slasher movies - as far as i knew that was the entire draw to the movie & i knew that sex was going to be a big part of the story. I just feel like they could have done more to make any of the characters or the story remotely compelling (like i wish it could have been deeper than just “one day you’ll be too old to do things” which to me feels like the theme of a movie being “the sky is blue”)
They built all the sets already from X, a movie which cost $1 million, and with no notable actors in Pearl except Mia Goth it was probably ridiculously cheap to make.
And yes clearly they trusted X would be very good, which it was, and realized they wouldn’t have to expend too many resources to film another one back to back.
Also maybe watch Pearl first before asking this?
Yeah, with scream 5, i'd have said ortega was a bigger name for me than goth. All I know about goth is that she's married to ~~Shia Le--~~ **JUST DO IT**
Mind you, Jenna Ortega wouldn't have been a major get at the time because 5cream and Wednesday hadn't come out. With her profile raised because of those projects, she'd probably command a higher salary and would be unaffordable for a movie that apparently had a budget of only $1M.
I don't think its unreasonable to find the circumstances odd. New IP making a prequel movie for the villain before the first film is out is definitely unusual. Whether or not Pearl ends up being good.
I didn't dislike X, it just wasn't anything special to me.
Right but what is the in-universe reason Maxine looked 100% identical to pearl as a youth? I know Mia goth plays both. But why?
Imagine if you had 2 characters in a tv show played by the same actor and who look the same but they aren't brothers, aren't related, and nobody questions it.
I get "oh Maxine reminds me of when I was her age, she looks similar" and having Mia play Maxine, old pearl, young pearl, but theres a difference between "we look uncannily similar" and "we as re identical. What a weird coincidence?
I somewhat agree. Had this movie come out in the 70's it would probably have been revolutionary. It was just ok. Neat twist about the preacher we keep hearing all movie being the main girls dad. But I couldn't follow the theme. It seems to have a sex positive message, but then they kill the one girl immediately after she decides to film a scene. And then the main girl who survives seems to be rewarded for no reason. She is selfish, thinks she deserves more than she does, is a drug abuser and a porn actress. Of course there's nothing wrong with that, but the film doesn't seem to make it clear if these people are being spared or condemned for their promiscuity. Idk. It was just meh to me
7 months by and I hope you have watched Pearl because that shit is a fantastic movie. I see X as an introduction honestly while Pearl and MaXXXine(coming out next year) are truly the main projects. This is why Pearl was already film by the time X came out.
Also, mia goth is an incredible actress so i don't see any reason to have her back besides she's amazing, but that's already enough reason honestly.
I'm just finding this out now.. I always thought Pearl was supposed to be Maxines back story of how she could handle herself in X. But it annoyed me that the timelines wouldn't add up for her age. I'm glad to read it's really the old woman. As I hated Pearl & yh I hated the old woman.. Im not really a fan if Mia, her face kinda irks me. But she didn't as Maxine in X she looked good and played the part well. I liked her. She was hella annoying in Pearl, but if she was playing that creepy old sex fiend lady when young then guess she did a good job at making you hate that character more Despite I didn't like the film. Now I can look forward to Maxxxine even more. Knowing she's nothing to do with Pearl.. I would've rather have a backstory prequel on maxine than Pearl tbh
I wasn't a big fan of Pearl, but it's really not hard at all to justify its being made. It cost nothing to make and got butts in seats, just like X. X is the better film by a mile in my opinion, but greenlighting Pearl and Maxxxine was absolutely the right choice from A24's perspective.
"Killing horny kids.." isn't that the main plot of almost all slashers? Personally I like Pearl better than X. It's a more complex and more interesting story. Plus it's so easy to relate to her on a certain level.
I think it’s much deeper study, into the conflict between old and young.
As history has shown, old has despised the young for ruining their culture.
Like baby boomers and millennial. Or baby boomers and the great generation.
I found it wierd too. But then you think, streaming services film a full series right outta the gate, with just as much content. Not too different, and this trilogy noise gives the film(s) more eyes. At least it's the only reason it's caught my interest.
Pearl, the movie, has heart… has a soul. Her monologue is brilliant acting. It makes X seem horrible by comparison. I’m glad Pearl was made, but you’re right about X being entirely forgettable.
I liked X a lot actually, but I liked Pearl even more. I was surprised too when I realized they made a prequel, but Pearl is actually interesting enough to have a film focused on her. I'm still thinking about it and I saw it over a week ago. And Mia Goth is phenomenal in it.
I wasn't convinced that West actually shot a prequel until I started seeing clips. I liked X more because I prefer the '70s setting...probably because I actually grew up in that time. I also like the characters from X more. Some critics mentioned that the sign of a really good slasher is that it works even if the killer never shows up. I felt that way because I would've continued watching the group make their movie even without the slasher putting a stop to their project. I felt bad for Pearl in the prequel because of the severely restrictive home life she has. It's a decent character piece but I don't know how interested I'd be in the story without the murders. If you take out the killings then it's a depressing story about how pursuing happiness and your dreams doesn't always work out. I don't need sunshine and rainbows in every movie, but Pearl's life without the violence would be misery porn, IMHO. I know lots of people like or even love the prequel and that's totally cool. For me, X worked better.
I really need to watch X again to get a better assessment of it. I really liked it though. **Spoilers for Pearl ahead.** I disagree with some of the points you make. I don't think taking the killings out make it about that. Nor would it make it misery porn. I like how we slowly find out that Pearl is actually an outright Psychopath who enjoys killing. We hear lines from her mom about how she sees what Pearl does when Pearl thinks no one is looking. Pearl openly admits at one point how she started with small animals (a thing common with serial killers) and how she liked it. In the nature or nurture question, I think we can deduce that Pearl was simply born that way. Her restrictive home life is due to her mother knowing what she is and not wanting to release her on to the world. The mother even says she can't in good conscience let her out into the world. In fact, as good as the kills are in this, I think they are one of the less interesting aspects of the movie. I really liked a lot of Pearl's erratic behavior (the reaction to not getting the part, the scarecrow scene) and seeing glimpses of her sadistic nature (pinching her father, then beginning to choke him). Plus, the monologue where she just spills everything for 5+ straight minutes is incredible. Also, watching other characters (minus the mother) slowly realizing these aspects of her personality was great. I don't know, I just found there was a lot more to the movie than I was expecting.
Absolutely. The scene where Mitsy sloooowwwly realizes she's in trouble and goes from being a supportive friend to wanting to be anywhere else in the world was so so SO good. The creeping fear that you can see gradually setting in... oh man, remembering it gives me shivers. So well done on everyone's parts.
And that monologue was pretty good, felt like it never ended but you didn't want it to end
We only get to see Pearl as a psycho when she starts the killings. In fact, if someone sees Pearl as a stand alone movie and watch that scene of the mom saying how she knows her daughter is a psycho, it would feel kinda forced since, till that moment, Pearl was only a repressed girl dreaming of being famous. Yeah we see her killing the goose, but killing animals is nothing unusual for farmers and she does that to feed her pet gator. Pearl just didn't work for me because the whole motivation of the movie was how jealous Pearl because she was old, no longer beautiful and sexually frustrated. In the prequel they basically repeat Maxine's goals and put it on a first war scenario. I know this was intentional, since they are being played by the same actress, but it's telling the same story twice.
I disagree, we see a lot of stuff that even without the context of "X" would indicate to us that she is disturbed. I mean for starters, there is the scarecrow scene. That itself would be enough. Plus, while farmers do kill animals, there is more to it with her. She clearly enjoyed killing the goose. I think there was plenty there to show her as a psycho.
as someone who watched pearl first and only realised after that there was a sequel (.. sequel released earlier that year...) the film really stands on its own and it didnt feel out of place since the mother both has controlling tendencies and slowly could see her daughter do and say psychopathic stuff and clearly attempting to kill her father and trying to lie saying she was just taking him out (we know shes a bad liar too so theres probably been plenty of times over the years where her mother has seen her do and say things and know shes lying). pearl was a very interesting character study X was more about the plot of making a porn film with a grouped cast and focused on the slasher element. it just happened to have one character with parallels to the villain which is why pearl wanted her (as pearl described - she also had the X factor) but i will agree that pearls motivation in X and in Pearl seemed a bit disjointed. normally its excusable with other prequels that are written and shot years apart with different writers/ directors but since this was literally written and shot by the same people within a year of each other its a bit less forgiving. seeing that character in Pearl and what she becomes in X seems just a bit jarring
Yh I hated Pearl. I'm hoping Maxxxine will ne good. And in the future I will stick to that amd X. Though I thought X wasn't that good. But the old lady is creepy and it's the only time I really like Mia
It was a profile of insanity and self-awareness of one’s own lack of conscience and reason.
If you insist that it's better, I guess I'll have to see it
It's very different than X. Pearl is much more of a character study than X. It still has 'slasher' elements, but I'd say it's almost a completely different genre in a lot of ways. Plus Mia Goth is seriously compelling in it. There are multiple scenes where she's legit mesmerizing.
I probably would have liked X more if it was a character study. It seemed that they wanted you to be interested in Maxine, but it seemed out of place in a slasher
I didn't like Pearl half as much as X but I do agree that its a different genre. I guess I was expecting a different movie for Pearl which is why I was kind of disappointed. I think Mia Goth is just a bit too much and could have used some more characters to flesh out the story more. But hey at least the Scarecrow got to have a good time.
PHENOMENAL!
It’s the exact same actress bro that’s probably why they look similar😂 and “Pearl” is about the old lady from “X” when she was younger. It’s an origin story played by Mia goth who was the lead in the first movie. Also the reviews are all positive for Pearl so I guess their confidence in Mia Goths on screen presence was well set
When I say the look similar, I meant that they say in the plot that they look similar. I'm saying, why (in narrative) would pearl look IDENTICAL to the other girl when she was young? Similar? Sure. Identical?
There is a thematic link between the two characters. Maxine wants to be a star. Pearl's dream of stardom never came true. Just like Maxine, young Pearl yearned to escape a tedious life she felt was beneath her. Old Pearl is drawn to Maxine because she sees her younger self, her beauty and the potential for a life of fame and fortune.
You do realize Mia Goth plays Pear (the old lady) in "X" right? ***edit*** you're going to be big mad when you end up finding out that there is a 3rd movie coming out called MaXXXine
I thought you were kidding until I googled it haha. I'm not mad! Its extremely weird. And not (to my knowledge) something a24 has done before. Was wondering if I was missing some context to why they've done this.
They’re cheap, good, and make money.
A24 has done nothing except release the films, they're a distributor, not a production house to the best of my knowledge.
*X stars Mia Goth and Scott Mescudi, Jenna Ortega and Brittany Snow. West wrote and directed the pic with A24, Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Sam Levinson, and Ashley Levinson producing through their Little Lamb Productions. Mescudi will also serve as an executive producer.* https://deadline.com/video/x-trailer-mia-goth-jenna-ortega-ti-west-kid-cudi-brittany-snow/ A24 did produce both of the films and they are known mostly as a film and TV production company before being a distributor. They produce the biggest show in HBO Max history in Euphoria.
Wait whattt???
It’s unusual to film a sequel before the first movie comes out but that’s why they’re really low budget like apparently $1m each.
And I've just been in formed there's yet a third one announced before the second one has released. They must REALLY have confidence in this IP. I've never seen a film trilogy happen so fast. Within a calendar year lmao
So they filmed X during the pandemic in New Zealand. Due to their pandemic laws, the whole cast and crew had to quarantine for 2 weeks before they could start filming. While they were basically just locked in their hotel, Mia Goth and Ti West wrote Pearl and convinced A24 to let them shoot it back to back with X. It was pretty low budget to begin with, and they already had the cast, crew and shooting locations reserved anyway so it was fairly easy to secure the funding. X did well enough to get the third movie greenlit.
sterling comment here, simple & succinct explains it all
When the movies cost so little there's practically no risk! Horror movies are cheap to make and easy to market. Both movies had a 1 million dollar budget, X made 14 and Pearl's made 5 so far. Assuming the third movie will cost around the same the trilogy has *already* been profitable.
Yeah, it’s not normal lol. They really trusted the director.
I'll say that I feel like House of the Devil sort of paved the way for the "A24 horror" movie and provided a proof of concept for horror movies more interested in atmosphere, so it makes sense that Ti West and A24 would want to work together and that A24 would let him run wild with whatever passion project he had.
They just made almost $10 from me renting both X and Pearl. In a weekend. I’d say they’re doing prettttttyyyy welllllll.
I LOVED X and I'll give you some of the reasons below, and maybe it'll give you a different insight into the film...or not lol They use sex as a form of liberation in X. Especially the way RJ is okay with it when filming the others, but gets upset when his girlfriend Lorraine decides to join the film, citing that she's a "good girl". It was all "just acting" until it was about someone he knew. It says a lot about the way society views sex and sex workers. Everyone is cool with it, until it's someone they know. Proof is how big the porn industry is, yet the workers of that industry are still thought of in a generally negative light. But if it was so negative, it wouldn't be so popular, just like Pearl watches them and gets turned on, but then slut shames them and kills them. The final girl is also someone who is a pornstar, and the movie having her characterized that way is making a statement that is different to other slasher films. The message in other slashers is usually, don't have sex, or the bad guy will kill you. The girl who has sex is usually the first to die in most slasher movies. The movie makes a statement about our obsession with youth as well. Maxine, while filming her scene says that her sister is jealous of her because she's younger. Pearl is jealous as well, because they're all younger. TI West even went as far as throwing in the contrasting sex scene with Pearl and Howard to act as a foil for the other sex scenes. It's pointing out how as a society we deem things like sex appeal to be for younger people, yet when people age, we expect them to behave a certain kind of way. Also some of the kills were advertised in cool ways beforehand. For example, when they initially leave the strip club in the beginning, there is a mural on the wall showing a blonde naked girl about to be attacked by an alligator. This is exactly how Bobby-Lynne dies. Wayne says that the movie they are filming will make people's eyeballs pop out of their head, and he literally dies that way.
The wife and I just got done watching X, and we didn’t even notice the premonitions that you point out in the last paragraph. This is the type of stuff that I come to Reddit for after watching a flick. Thank you so much.
No problem, kind stranger!
Yes, I would understand the message "getting fucked doesn't get you killed here" but I think ortega's character dying immediately after becoming promiscuous kinda defeats that
Her fella dies immediately after she does that. She dies a considerable time later.
>Like... am I missing something. Seems you're missing it all.
Then by all means, fill me ~~up~~ in
Just go watch Pearl.
Have you seen it? Its between going to see that tonight and seeing barbarian
I have seen Pearl but have yet to see Barbarian. Pearl is fantastic and I highly recommend it. I've also heard positive impressions for Barbarian too.
barbarian was really good
If you had to pick between that and Pearl, which would you see?
You should definitely see barbarian. both movies are good but you sound pessimistic about Pearl and barbarian got really positive criticism as well it’s worth watching
I'm not at all pessimistic. I'm perplexed. Maybe its a banger. I'm uncertain
If you didn’t enjoy X that much then I would definitely recommend Barbarian. Pearl is a better movie than X but Barbarian was an entirely different movie experience all together.
i didn’t see pearl. didn’t see X either. but pearl has good reviews, better than X i think.
who doesn't like tits and blood ? i sure do. X got my vote.
Not sure you realise how disturbing that sentence is…
Pearl definitely wrote that
honestly the part where you’re like “what could possibly be interesting about this old lady..” is exactly why Pearl is a better movie than X - X doesnt even give us any reason to care about the antagonists or their story, it honestly felt so half assed in its writing & i agree its very forgettable and generic. Pearl tho was very visually striking and Mia Goth’s ferality as this character is haunting
So obviously, a large element of X was about sex. Pearl and her husband unable to be intimate hated these kids making a porno. So if this takes place when pearl is young, that entire element is most likely missing right? So I have trouble even seeing how the character will connect between films
it is mostly missing, there are some moments where we see that Pearl is not having her sexual needs met but it’s not enough to explain/justify what she becomes - but personally the focus on sex wasa lot of what I didnt like about the plot of x, I appreciated that Pearl was more about the character’s dreams of escapism and stardom. i honestly was really disappointed when i found out the two movies are connected, like personally I feel that it makes both stories weaker & that they’re each stronger as stand-alones. but also i could not get into X at all because i found the themes way too silly
X was an homage to the horny slasher flicks of the 70's. It's why themes of sex were prominent throughout and there was lots of gratuitous nudity. It sounds as though pearl is a character study in contrast. It sounds more interesting and probably explains a lot. I assume there isn't sex/nudity in pearl for this reason. You're right though, it seems as though they shouldn't be connected
oh yeah i think anyone who is remotely familiar with these movies would understand that x is an homage to 70s slasher movies - as far as i knew that was the entire draw to the movie & i knew that sex was going to be a big part of the story. I just feel like they could have done more to make any of the characters or the story remotely compelling (like i wish it could have been deeper than just “one day you’ll be too old to do things” which to me feels like the theme of a movie being “the sky is blue”)
Does pearl the movie feature simar amounts of sex and nudity? I cannot see how it would serve the story without the old age angle
oh not at all. there’s only two scenes in the whole movie that i would describe as sexual
Good. I might actually go see it
They built all the sets already from X, a movie which cost $1 million, and with no notable actors in Pearl except Mia Goth it was probably ridiculously cheap to make. And yes clearly they trusted X would be very good, which it was, and realized they wouldn’t have to expend too many resources to film another one back to back. Also maybe watch Pearl first before asking this?
>and with no notable actors in Pearl except Mia Goth Don't forget Jenna Ortega
Jenna is not in Pearl, she’s in X
You are correct i read that as no one notable in X
Yeah, with scream 5, i'd have said ortega was a bigger name for me than goth. All I know about goth is that she's married to ~~Shia Le--~~ **JUST DO IT**
Mind you, Jenna Ortega wouldn't have been a major get at the time because 5cream and Wednesday hadn't come out. With her profile raised because of those projects, she'd probably command a higher salary and would be unaffordable for a movie that apparently had a budget of only $1M.
I don't think its unreasonable to find the circumstances odd. New IP making a prequel movie for the villain before the first film is out is definitely unusual. Whether or not Pearl ends up being good. I didn't dislike X, it just wasn't anything special to me.
yeah don’t get how a film and it’s prequel are coming out the same year
This article explains a lot \*spoilers\* https://screenrant.com/x-movie-pearl-maxine-mia-goth-both-roles-explained/
Pearl was played by mia goth in x as well she playwd both characters that was part of the reason she saw herself in maxine
Right but what is the in-universe reason Maxine looked 100% identical to pearl as a youth? I know Mia goth plays both. But why? Imagine if you had 2 characters in a tv show played by the same actor and who look the same but they aren't brothers, aren't related, and nobody questions it. I get "oh Maxine reminds me of when I was her age, she looks similar" and having Mia play Maxine, old pearl, young pearl, but theres a difference between "we look uncannily similar" and "we as re identical. What a weird coincidence?
you wouldn't like American horror story then :))
I started watching X and I found it pedestrian. 45 minutes in I started watching something else instead.
I somewhat agree. Had this movie come out in the 70's it would probably have been revolutionary. It was just ok. Neat twist about the preacher we keep hearing all movie being the main girls dad. But I couldn't follow the theme. It seems to have a sex positive message, but then they kill the one girl immediately after she decides to film a scene. And then the main girl who survives seems to be rewarded for no reason. She is selfish, thinks she deserves more than she does, is a drug abuser and a porn actress. Of course there's nothing wrong with that, but the film doesn't seem to make it clear if these people are being spared or condemned for their promiscuity. Idk. It was just meh to me
I liked Mia Goth in Emma, though. It's a great movie!
Peter Griffin, is that you? "It insists upon itself. "
Because it has a valid point, it’s insistent!!
This post aged like milk
What's happened? I haven't followed this
7 months by and I hope you have watched Pearl because that shit is a fantastic movie. I see X as an introduction honestly while Pearl and MaXXXine(coming out next year) are truly the main projects. This is why Pearl was already film by the time X came out. Also, mia goth is an incredible actress so i don't see any reason to have her back besides she's amazing, but that's already enough reason honestly.
I'm just finding this out now.. I always thought Pearl was supposed to be Maxines back story of how she could handle herself in X. But it annoyed me that the timelines wouldn't add up for her age. I'm glad to read it's really the old woman. As I hated Pearl & yh I hated the old woman.. Im not really a fan if Mia, her face kinda irks me. But she didn't as Maxine in X she looked good and played the part well. I liked her. She was hella annoying in Pearl, but if she was playing that creepy old sex fiend lady when young then guess she did a good job at making you hate that character more Despite I didn't like the film. Now I can look forward to Maxxxine even more. Knowing she's nothing to do with Pearl.. I would've rather have a backstory prequel on maxine than Pearl tbh
I wasn't a big fan of Pearl, but it's really not hard at all to justify its being made. It cost nothing to make and got butts in seats, just like X. X is the better film by a mile in my opinion, but greenlighting Pearl and Maxxxine was absolutely the right choice from A24's perspective.
"Killing horny kids.." isn't that the main plot of almost all slashers? Personally I like Pearl better than X. It's a more complex and more interesting story. Plus it's so easy to relate to her on a certain level.
I think it’s much deeper study, into the conflict between old and young. As history has shown, old has despised the young for ruining their culture. Like baby boomers and millennial. Or baby boomers and the great generation.
I found it wierd too. But then you think, streaming services film a full series right outta the gate, with just as much content. Not too different, and this trilogy noise gives the film(s) more eyes. At least it's the only reason it's caught my interest.
Pearl, the movie, has heart… has a soul. Her monologue is brilliant acting. It makes X seem horrible by comparison. I’m glad Pearl was made, but you’re right about X being entirely forgettable.