PEARL

Set 61 years before 'X', Pearl (Mia Goth, 'Suspiria', 'A Cure for Wellness') is a young aspiring actress who has to take care of her dad (Matthew Sunderland, 'The Nightingale', 'The Strangler') and suffers constant abuse from her mum (Tandi Wright, 'Jack the Giant Slayer', 'Daffodils'). She escapes to the cinemas often and learns a lot about moving pictures from the local projectionist (David Corenswet, 'Look Both Ways', TV's 'Hollywood'). But as we know from 'X', 'Pearl' has a killer instinct, and we start to see those deadly thoughts take centre stage.

'X' was this surprise little throwback to the 70s and dirty, sexy horror. With a budget of US$1 million it went on to make US$15 million, a small box office but on that tiny budget a success. In what felt like an announcement coming out of nowhere, director Ti West said this was the start of a trilogy with the second feature (for American audiences) coming out later the same year as 'X'. Still to come is a direct sequel to 'X', 'MaXXXine', which plans to focus on Mia Goth's character, Maxine, from that film.

Mia Goth is once again a force of nature. She is the new face of horror, and absolutely eats up everything she is given. 'Pearl' is a horror icon and that's all thanks to Goth, from her face to her line delivery it's a performance you just can't help but be drawn into.

With 'X' we had the backdrop of young amateur filmmakers in the 70s, along with the explosion of the adult film industry and the snuff film. From what has been revealed, 'MaXXXine' looks to be set in 80s and its backdrop will be the birth of video stores and VHS in the home. For 'Pearl', we are at the start of it all with the birth of the cinema industry and how exciting and new that time was. This makes the look of 'Pearl' so delightful not just in the set and costume design but the editing and cinematography of the film is a massive callback to the Golden Age of Hollywood. With the 'X' trilogy, we could have one the best love letters to film history and the slasher genre.

'Pearl' is another surprise from West and Goth, further cementing both as horror staples. If you loved 'X', you've got to see this on the big screen and fall head over heels for this new horror classic.