Ti West’s X the movie features a terrifying killer with decidedly human motivations, but what are the Mia Goth Pearl killer’s backstory and how does it relate to Pearl and X explained? Ti West’s “erotic horror” X opened to rave reviews from the horror community, with critics noting X‘s desire to return to a well-trodden slasher formula that firmly acts as a poignant homage to classics such as John Carpenter’s Halloween and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Despite the finality of its ending, the X movie Pearl explained its killer’s backstory.
X followed an aspiring young film crew as they arrive at a secluded Texas farm to shoot a pornographic film in the late 1970s. Blinded by their ambitions, the young group remains largely unaware of a covetous presence in the farmhouse next door in the form of Pearl (Mia Goth). The X movie Pearl explained its villain’s intentions and motivations. Ti West’s Pearl, which focuses on the origins of this sometimes sympathetically-framed antagonist, dove further into her warped psyche. With MaXXXine on the way to round off Ti West’s Mia Goth horror trilogy, there’s no better time to look back at the slasher villain who started it all.
Pearl And Maxine Aren’t Related
Since Mia Goth plays both roles, there’s speculation surrounding the X movie Pearl character and Maxine being related. Both Pearl and X explained that the two bear no familial ties — but it doesn’t mean that MaXXXine can’t change that. Where it stands, the reason model/actress Mia Goth embodies both characters is thematic for X. Both characters have some eerie similarities, namely in their ambitions. However, what it comes down to is that X in particular, and in Pearl somewhat too, the themes of sexual liberation and aging are pit up against one another, with Maxine just beginning her own and Pearl regretting letting her moment pass.
Scarily enough, while the X movie Pearl explained its villain’s backstory, X suggests that her older character is a glimpse into Maxine’s future, homicidal tendencies aside. Even Ti West has admitted that he double-casted the role on purpose. West discussed (via Letterboxd) why he put Mia Goth in both parts, “I always thought of them as different characters but the same person.” Both the X movie Pearl character and Maxine are very focused on their respective appearances, and while Pearl is murdering members of the film crew, it’s clear that this is partially out of jealousy.
The X movie Pearl explained just how similar Maxine and Pearl really are, and the parallels between the characters suggest familial ties. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Maxine’s preacher father ended up on Pearl’s TV screen in X, and it’s possible that the story in MaXXXine will be similar to what happened in Pearl, given both characters’ need for admiration. Both characters have overwhelming ambitions to be “a star” and yearn to be desired to achieve greater self-worth. West said it himself that the two characters are different people, but ultimately the same. Therefore, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Maxine and Pearl to be related.
How Old Is Pearl In X?
X presents Pearl as a macabre portrait of aging without grace, as Pearl covets the youth of the group that arrives at the farm. Pearl initially appears incapable of taking care of herself before the X movie’s characters realize that she is capable of swiftly dispatching them one by one. This makes it difficult to ascertain how old Pearl is in X, though the X movie Pearl explained her age. Pearl is a teenager in the prequel, which takes place in 1918 during WWI. Given X takes place in 1979, and Pearl is roughly sixteen in the prequel, it can be inferred that her character is around 77 years old in X.
Why & When Pearl Started Killing
The X movie Pearl explained exactly when and how her murderous tendencies began. While her husband Howard (The Lord of the Rings trilogy’s Stephen Ure) initially states that Pearl’s envy of the porn crew’s hedonistic lifestyle is what awakens her bloodlust, it becomes clear across X‘s runtime and the Pearl movie that Pearl was a killer long before the film’s events. Pearl’s killing can seemingly be traced back to her childhood, with the Pearl post-credits trailer showing the titular character hacking and slashing at several off-screen characters in fits of rage.
Pearl’s actions throughout X make it increasingly clear that she is motivated by jealousy rather than anger at her lack of intercourse, with Pearl subsequently coveting and killing RJ’s crew out of envy for their youth. These motivations are backed up in the post-credits Pearl trailer, which shows a young Pearl enviously looking at photographs of others before the teaser cuts to quick shots of her hacking at unknown characters. In this way, Pearl has always killed out of jealousy, but the source of her jealousy changes from her original motivations, as the X movie Pearl explained, to longing for her youth again in X.
How Did Pearl Meet Howard?
Howard is about as devoted a husband as one is likely to find in X, helping Pearl cover up her murders and staunchly supporting his wife. The X movie Pearl explained that she and Howard are already married in 1918, and he is away fighting in WWI. Therefore, it’s unclear how the two met, but even back then he was still covering up his wife’s crimes, as proven by Pearl‘s ending. In the movie, Pearl has seated her deceased family around the dinner table with a rotting pig, which Howard comes home and witnesses. Rather than call the authorities, the movie ends with her pained smile and his slack-jawed expression.
How Pearl Came To Own The Farm In X
The X movie Pearl explained that the main character lived on the farm in 1918. The Texas homestead is owned by her domineering mother Ruth and her father, who is infirm and paralyzed. Pearl is charged with taking care of both her father and the farm throughout the movie, and she has a penchant for harming the farm animals. Pearl eventually inherits the farm when she kills her mother and father by setting Ruth on fire and smothering her dad. Once Howard comes home to witness her crimes, it’s clear that the two of them inherit the farm from her German immigrant parents, the same homestead that’s featured in X.
Pearl’s Religious Beliefs & How They Impact X Movie
A common theme that Pearl and X explained is religion, with several of the film’s characters given ties to Christianity and overt biblicisms. Maxine (also played by Mia Goth in X) is revealed to be the daughter of the televangelist preacher playing on the farmhouse TVs, which acts as an additional link between her character and Pearl, who was “exactly like Maxine” in her younger years, while Pearl and Howard themselves are portrayed as god-fearing Christians despite their murderous proclivities.
Once again, horror director Ti West’s X movie Pearl explained Pearl’s warped understanding of religion mixed with her desire to kill, with Maxine’s assertion that “I will not accept a life I do not deserve” (a sentiment lifted from Mark 10:15 verses in the Bible) acting as a mirror for Pearl’s self-centered approach to desire and sin. Director Ti West goes to great lengths to ensure the characters of Pearl and Maxine share a pertinent sense of duality, and Pearl’s religious beliefs are unknowingly echoed by the pornstar Maxine (the daughter of a preacher) is a potent link between the two.
What The Pearl Prequel Movie Revealed About X’s Killer
The X movie Pearl explained the killer’s backstory in great depth. From diving into her psychopathy to depicting her very first kill, Pearl (which was released 6 months after X) goes deep into the character’s psyche and proclivity for murderous acts. First, the movie shows that Pearl grew up in an incredibly strict household. Since her father is paralyzed and ill, her overbearing mother Ruth runs the household and even goes so far as to take Pearl’s supper away after she forgets eight cents from when she was out running errands. Ruth doesn’t support nor indulge in Pearl’s fantasies of stardom and consistently berates her daughter over these aspirations.
Second, the X movie Pearl explained Pearl’s descent into psychopathy, starting with her acts of torture toward the farm animals and ending with her slaughtering her family, the projectionist, and her sister-in-law Mitsy. Pearl doesn’t start out killing people in the beginning, but she doesn’t kick off the movie fully sane either. It’s clear that she has a penchant for violence from the start, but she is driven to murder through feelings of perceived abandonment, jealousy, and (in her mother’s case) rage.
Another theme that the X movie Pearl explained is her dashed hopes and dreams, which are the source of her murderous actions in X the movie. Pearl puts all her stock into becoming a chorus girl, and in the meantime, she falls in love with a projectionist from the cinema despite already being married. After finding out about an audition from Mitsy, she wholeheartedly believes that this is her only shot. When Mitsy is selected over her, she kills her sister-in-law. All in all, the Pearl movie reveals that the X killer has always been as cold, calculated, theatrical, and violent as she is in the latter film.
How The X Sequel Can Show More Of Pearl
Ti West remains busy with the X franchise, as a sequel movie has been announced, titled MaXXXine. The film is currently in production, with Mia Goth reprising her role as Maxine, though it’s unknown if the X movie Pearl character will make an appearance. While Maxine killed Pearl at the end of X, it doesn’t mean that the villain can’t be seen through memories or flashbacks. Maxine is the perfect mirror image of Pearl, a creative decision that was intentionally made to elevate the horror film beyond its elements. The MaXXXine would be remiss if it didn’t include Pearl in some capacity.
MaXXXine will follow the X survivor as she continues on her journey to become an actress in 1980s Los Angeles. So, even though the focus isn’t on Pearl this time around, it’s possible the character could appear in flashbacks or memories. It might be that Pearl lives on through Maxine’s similarly violent actions. Either way, MaXXXine is sure to bookend the series with Mia’s stellar performances as Maxine and Pearl ringing loud in the audience’s memory.
Mia Goth Was Snubbed By The Academy
The 2023 Oscars came and went, and despite Mia Goth’s performance as Pearl receiving widespread critical acclaim she — and the horror genre in general — have been snubbed by the Academy. Model/actress Mia Goth is well aware of this fact and took to “Jake’s Takes” during an interview about her complex movie Infinity Pool, to talk about the snub. Goth claims that the decision to exclude horror movies from the Oscars as “political,” citing that there are a lot of people involved in making these decisions. Her statements do ring true, especially considering the fact that the horror genre has become more elevated than ever before.
Goth calls for a change to the Academy’s rulings, stating “A change is necessary. A shift should take place if they wanted to engage with the wider public. I think it would be of benefit, really, [to nominate horror movies].” Goth’s assertions have been echoed by horror fans for many decades now as, even though there have been a number of Oscar-winning horror movies through the years, Silence of the Lambs remains the only horror film to win Best Picture. The horror genre has been relatively ignored by the Academy for some time, and Mia Goth certainly deserved more recognition for her outstanding performances in X and Pearl.
