It’s hard to believe that horror fans are just a few days away from witnessing the second part of Ti West’s X trilogy. Over the last couple of weeks there has been a variety of new images and clips gloriously teasing Pearl’s bloody return. There was even a sequel announced. Now a new teaser for Pearl gives us the first key that is needed in having the “X-factor”.
The spot makes it clear that the first step towards success is practice. We see many ways Mia Goth’s Pearl is getting her “practice” in. She’s dancing with some hay and a scarecrow, getting her stabbing form perfected with a pitchfork, and getting her necessary exercise in with a bike ride. Also, with that previously mentioned scarecrow, Pearl is participating in some very X-rated activities. Minus that last creepy part, fans participating in MaXXXine’s eXtra competition should take into account how much work Pearl’s putting into her craft.
Other interesting things of note in this spot are the color choices. While most of the footage takes place in dreamlike technicolor, there are some eerie instances that are presented in shadowy black and white. One shot in particular of what looks like Pearl’s mother, played by Tandi Wright, removing her face mask is extremely chilling. She appears to be watching Pearl from the crowd and, given her facial scarring, this most likely isn’t in our wannabe star’s head. This could be setting up the conflict of the film between Pearl and her mother who hasn’t seemed very supportive of her daughter’s dreams in the marketing thus far. Horror fans should be prepared for another crazed genre showdown for the ages.
The hype for Pearl seems as surreal as the murderous main character herself. When 2022 began no one knew that X, Pearl, and Maxine were going to take the horror world by storm. However, in just the six months between X and Pearl’s releases, it’s hard to think of a time before this unique slasher franchise existed. That’s how amazing X was. It was this intimately fascinating exploration of aging. The tragedy of desires lasting long after our dreams die and our skin makes us unrecognizable. Those uncomfortable themes beautifully informed a blood-soaked slasher that’s lovable wide-eyed characters with Hollywood aspirations slayed the hearts of its audience. Particularly Pearl’s story with her husband Howard had this oddly sweet layer to their tragedy and Goth’s brilliant duel performance made X must watch horror.
Pearl appears to be going into the character’s damaged dreams even further with the prequel focusing on the start of the golden age of Hollywood in the early 20th century. From everything we have seen so far, this is going to be another unique killing spree that crushes the “American Dream” with the false security of a technicolor backdrop.
Pearl will be finding her X-factor when her prequel hits theaters this Friday on September 16. Until then, you can watch the film’s new killer teaser on Instagram and the full trailer down below.
