PEARL (2022)
Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD
Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 102 Minutes 31 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1), DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Ti West
Cast: Mia Goth, Alistair Sewell, Tandi Wright, David Corenswet
Pearl (2022) is Ti West’s prequel-sequel to X (2022). telling the origin story of the elderly-terror Pearl (Mia Goth, Frankenstein), going back 61 year earlier to the year 1918 when she was a young living on the farm with her German immigrant parents, the ultra-religious and strict Ruth (Tandi Wright, Black Sheep) and her father (Matthew Sunderland, The Nightingale) who was stricken with the Spanish flu and rendered infirm, meanwhile her husband Henry (Alistair Sewell, The Power of the Dog) is away fighting the first World War. With her father unable to work the farm it falls on Ruth and Pearl to make ends meet and keep food on the table, but young Pearl dreams of becoming a chorus girl or movie star and escaping her life on the farm, and had grown increasing emotionally starved and resentful, while her mother grows increasingly impatient with her daughter's pursuit of frivolity. Right from the get-go there are signs that young pearl is disturbed and full of rage, her resentment festering just below the surface now starts to emerge, first with the killing a goose with a pitchfork and feeding it to the alligator in the family pond, named Theda, abusing her helpless father in various ways, and masturbating with a scarecrow in a cornfield, yeah, she an odd one for sure, and her peculiar tendencies have not gone unnoticed by her mother, who sees the frightening tendencies her daughter attempts to mask.
Pearl further spirals out of control after meeting a handsome movie projectionist (David Corenswet, Superman) who ignites further aspirations of fame, encouraging her to follow her dreams. he gives her a backstage your of the theater and invited her into the projection room to show her an early porno flick 'A Free Ride', igniting her sexually frustrated libido - it's after this encounter when she's riding her bicycle home that she pulls her bike off to the side of the road and finds a scarecrow, she begins to dance with it and then fantasizes about fucking the projectionist while masturbating herself with the help of the straw-stuffed scarecrow. A short time later she learns from her well-off sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) that a touring dance troupe is holding local auditions, and she sees this as her one chance to finally escape the isolation and loneliness of the farm. When her mother learns her plan to audition she tells her that there is something deeply wrong with her, that she frightens people, and will not succeed. A heated argument erupts and Pearl shoves her mom up against the fireplace, igniting her dress, as the fire engulfs her Pearl extinguishes the flames with a boiling pot of corn on the cob, then dragging her mother into the basement to die. She immediately flees to see the theater to fuck projectionist, and the next day she goes to the audition, and sure enough, the audition does not go well, even though Pearl in her mind imagines a transcendent and fantastical audition, they pass her over in favor of blonde Mitsy, devastating her. As her dream of stardom slip away she fully unravels, fully consumed rage, unleashing a wave of violence that ends up consuming her father, the projections and her sister-in-law, guaranteeing that Theda will be eating well.
Ti West's prequel-sequel has a ultra-vivid Technicolor look inspired by The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, with the look of a Norman Rockwell painting, standing in stark contrast to the dark, psychological nightmare that it is, with a macabre finale that references both Tobe Hooper's Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Eaten Alive, it's quite wonderful in how gruesome and fucked-up it is. Mia Goth is fantastic, conveying the cracked-psyche of someone obsessed with fame, overflowing with narcissistic resentment, and willing to destroy anyone who rejects her or attempts to prevent her from achieving her delusional dreams.
Audio/Video: Pear (2022) arrives on 4K Ultra HD widescreen (2.39:1) with Dolby Vision HDR10 color-grading, the digital shot film is intended to have a Technicolor level of saturation and it looks fantastic, the verdant greens of grass, the unreal blue skies, the eye-searing red of the barn, the hues of wall paper inthe farmhouse, it's just a gorgeous presentation with beautifully suffused colors that are garish and intentionally unnatural. Texture and detail looks terrific, the native 4K digital image is stunning, and depth and clarity continually impress. Audio comes by way of English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD7.1) and DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with optional English subtitles, dialogue is clean and well-balanced, the discreet but gruesome sounds of maggots eating rotting flesh, Pearl's father's infirm moans, sounds of thunder, and the lush score by Tyler Bates and Tim Williams all benefit from the Atmos upgrade.
Second Sight also impress with a terrific array of extras, bot new and archival. New bonus features begin with a terrific Audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas that covers a lot of ground, of this being a pandemic shot film and how that is felt in the film, it's style and themes, and so much more. New interviews kick-off with the 19-min Bold Choices: Interview with director Ti West, who speaks about writing the script over 2 weeks quarantining before shooting X in New Zealand, utilizing the existing locations, sets, and crew from X for a quick turnaround, how having completed the script prior to shooting X enriched the characters and performances in the first film, the intimacy coordinator from X played Pearl's Mother, what a trooper Goth was, as well as the Tyler Bates/Tim Williams score,
Next is the 28-min The Mother: Interview with actor Tandi Wright who talks about how she went from being the intimacy coordinator on X to playing Pearl's mother in the sequel, giving appreciation for producer Jacob Jaffke and his sincere care for his cast and crew, an appreciation of Mia Goth and her work ethic, Ti West's directorial style, her make-up effects and the excitement of the fire-stunt,
The 12-min Absorb the Aesthetic: Interview with director of photography Eliot Rockett, which gets into collaborations with West, the initial conception of shooting in B&W before then going with a highly color-saturated Technicolor look, and realizing while making it that was some of his best work to date, as well as some technical talk about camera systems, lenses and lighting,
Going Technicolor: Interview with production designer Tom Hammock, is a 19-min interview wherein he discusses the challenged of prepping Pearl while shooting X, playing Led Zeppelin and big band jazz to differentiate the two projects in his mind, the 4-week turnaround between films, the set design and custom made wallpaper, going for that Technicolor look, dressing the streets to look period, and the strong weather patterns in New Zealand,
We also get an 11-min Hollywood Goes West: a video essay by Joe Wallace that explores the trilogies theme of seeking fame and how cinema is a through line. The last of the extras are archival featurettes that were present on the previous A25 Blu-ray release, these include the 12-min Coming Out of Her Shell with MiaGoth, Ti West, David Corenswet and 4-min Time After Time.
The single-disc 4K UHD Limited Edition release arrives in a sturdy Rigid Slipcase with new artwork by Thinh Dinh, inside there's a 120-page book featuring all new essays by Jenn Adams, Joel Harley, Mo Moshaty, Tori Potenza, Vannah
Taylor and Nadine Whitney that explore the film even more deeply chock full of insights with essays exploring repression, madness, the effects of isolation, and quite a bit more, plus Six Collector's Art Cards. The 4K disc is housed in a gatefold digipak with a clear plastic tray holding the disc.
Special Features:
- Presented in HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
- New audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- Bold Choices: a new interview with director Ti West (18:50)
- The Mother: a new interview with actor Tandi Wright (28:19),
- Absorb the Aesthetic: a new interview with director of photography Eliot Rockett (12:53)
- Going Technicolor: a new interview with production designer Tom Hammock (19:02)
- Hollywood Goes West: a video essay by Joe Wallace (10:31)
- Coming Out of Her Shell (11:36)
- Time After Time (3:59)
Limited Edition Contents:
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Thinh Dinh
- 120-page book with new essays by Jenn Adams, Joel Harley, Mo Moshaty, Tori Potenza,
Vannah Taylor and Nadine Whitney
- Six collectors' Art Cards
Second Sight's Limited Edition 4K UHD of Pearl (2022) is another stunner, they've totally knocked it out of the park with this one with a spectacular A/V presentation, copious deep-diving extras, and premium packaging make this a must-own for fans looking to add the film to their physical media collection.
