The critics agree on one thing above all: Mia Goth. Almost every review, positive or not, singles out her performance as the young Pearl, and several point to a long monologue late on as the film’s high point. The praise also clusters around the look, a saturated Technicolor pastiche of old Hollywood that most find witty rather than arch, and around the sincerity West brings to a character who could have been a joke. The reservations are about the script. IndieWire argues the prequel over-explains a figure who worked better as a mystery in X, and the Los Angeles Times, Variety and Polygon each wonder whether the film adds much to what the first one established. The lone real dissent is Slant Magazine, which calls it an empty exercise in homage. The spread is wide, from full marks to a shrug, but the balance is firmly favourable, and even the doubters keep Goth out of their complaints.
A
The AV Club
15 September 2022 · A- · Phil Pirrello
90
The critic hails the film as one of the year's best overall, crediting West with elevating horror through emotionally grounded character work. Mia Goth's lead performance is singled out as a star-making turn that makes Pearl's tragic spiral deeply relatable.
West pays homage to The Wizard of Oz in this prequel to X, but Mia Goth's nitro-powered performance really makes it sing. It lives or dies on tolerance for her extreme, beguiling portrayal of a character projecting only in extremes amid gory murders and a Spanish flu setting.
This prequel details the backstory of X's antagonist Pearl, creating a Technicolor psychodrama steeped in classical Hollywood lore. Goth gives dignity and depth to a character like the love child of Carrie White and Norman Bates.
The critic praises the film as a gloriously demented homage to old Hollywood, with witty cine-literacy and explosive bursts of deranged bloodshed. Mia Goth delivers a phenomenal, riotously entertaining performance as the deranged teenager with a monstrous need to be loved.
West and co-writer Goth have fun asking whether Pearl was born bad or pushed over the edge in an entertaining blend of shockfest and movie pastiche. Goth is bewitching in the lead, with a riveting monologue offering insight into a sociopathic mind.
The critic praises the hallucinatory intensity and Mia Goth's earnest, bizarre performance as the homicidal farm girl, noting the film's sincere tenderness toward its heroine despite some thinness.
Mia Goth is tremendous in this ripe and riotous prequel, moving through a considerable breadth of talent in her lead role. The film explores the hardscrabble early life of the villain from X with stylish bloodbath elements and Technicolor musical unreality.
The critic sees the film as a campy Sirkian slasher prequel that prioritizes lush midcentury melodrama stylings over genuine horror scares. Mia Goth's performance is singled out for its compelling mix of doe-eyed innocence and sinister unraveling.
3 September 2022 · festival review · Peter Debruge
70*
The critic finds the Technicolor prequel an appealingly odd antihero origin story with a distinctive look and strong Mia Goth turn, though it feels like an afterthought that doesn't deepen the prior film's mythology.
The review highlights Mia Goth's enjoyably demented performance and the film's colorful period melodrama but questions whether the prequel adds much beyond what was already established in 'X'.
The critic argues that the prequel over-explains the character from X in a way that diminishes both films, with a rickety screenplay beholden to the original. The Technicolor visuals and Goth's presence are acknowledged but ultimately fail to elevate the uneven result.
The critic dismisses the film as an empty stylistic exercise that prioritizes referential homages over meaningful character exploration. Goth's versatile performance is the main element singled out for praise amid complaints of tonal whiplash and narrative thinness.
The film is an ambitious, impressive centrepiece in the X trilogy and an American gothic shocker with much to say. The critic singles out Mia Goth's awards-worthy lead performance for particular praise.
Pearl is a terrific showcase for Mia Goth as a young woman whose grip on sanity is slipping fast. It pivots to an engrossing study in strangeness that stands on its own unsettlingly odd merits as a minor gem in its genre.
The prequel to X is a smart, sharp affair with plenty of blood in the franchise's veins. Mia Goth delivers a tour de force performance as the younger Pearl, with a bravura monologue highlighting her elastic facial features and sociopathic self-actualisation.
Pearl is a demented and charming Wizard of Oz-like horror that is all the more disturbing because it does not look like a horror movie. The critic singles out Mia Goth's strange, deceptively childlike yet sinister performance for particular praise.
Ti West's period psycho tale is clever, violent, and wicked with a fabulously unhinged turn from Goth. The critic singles out the lead performance and inventive cinematic flourishes for particular praise.
A wonderfully camp yet disturbing Technicolor prequel that cements Mia Goth as a genre icon through her sweetly unhinged portrayal of a woman driven to violence by crushed dreams and repression.
The prequel improves on X thanks to Mia Goth's spellbinding lead performance as the young Pearl, whose descent into violence is explored through a striking Technicolor style and psychological depth.
West crafts a visually dazzling character study of a repressed would-be star whose inner darkness erupts violently, anchored by an extraordinary, tour-de-force performance from Mia Goth.
The critic calls the film an ambitious and bold work of horror that questions what it means to deserve love. Mia Goth's performance is singled out as utterly transcendent and the film's standout element.
13 September 2022 · festival review · Rafael Motamayor
65*
The critic calls Mia Goth's performance mesmerizing and a tour-de-force that cements her as a horror icon, while praising the film's vivid Technicolor visuals and score. They criticize the meandering plot, thin character development, and lack of purposeful pastiche or deeper commentary compared to X.
The critic finds Pearl a terrifically enjoyable horror prequel that artfully drills down into the essence of its predecessor X. Goth's powerhouse performance is singled out as elevating the material and delivering one of the most committed female horror-comedy turns in years.
The critic calls Pearl a stunning prequel that illuminates and recontextualizes X, dramatically improving an already acclaimed film. Mia Goth's sad yet scary performance is singled out for making the film genuinely frightening and unforgettable.
Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate
