Pearl

What’s it about?

In 1918, Pearl, a young woman on the verge of insanity pursues fame as a desperate means to escape the tedious, lonely, and loveless life on her parents' farm.

The facts

• Directed by Ti West (X, MaXXXine)
• Stars Mia Goth (X, MaXXXine)
• Prequel to horror films X and MaXXXine
• Runtime: 98 minutes
• English language
• Shot in New Zealand (standing in for Texas, USA)

Why did it get this rating?

This film was classified by Te Mana Whakaatu - Classification Office. You can find out more about classification process and ratings here.

The horror film has a saturated ‘technicolour’ retro style but uses modern slasher film effects.

Graphic violence

The film contains horror violence, which is sometimes cruel. Pearl is shown to be manic and murderous which makes her a potential threat to those around her. Several scenes contain lingering close-ups of gore. Victims are killed in a variety of disturbing ways, and the violence shown is graphic.

A character is stabbed in the chest and mouth with a pitchfork. Another character is chased with an axe and is hit in the back. They are then killed with the axe after begging to be saved. We then see gory limb detail as the axe is used to dismember and decapitate the character and is fed to the alligator.

Sex scenes

There is a scene which shows a female character having “sex” with a scarecrow, straddling and riding the object to bring herself to orgasm. In another scene, there is a brief segment from a vintage "stag" film, a type of pornographic film made secretly in the early 20th century, featuring explicit nudity, movement, and sexual activity between two women and a man.

Content that may disturb

This film includes content that may disturb such as jump scares, unsettling nightmares, and a scene depicting a decaying pig infested with maggots.

Pearl kills one of the farm animals off-screen with a pitchfork. We see the bloodied dead animal as she feeds it to an alligator.

Pearl cruelly locks up her mother in the basement despite her mother suffering a severe burn. We later see she has died. Pearl smothers her paralysed father with a pillow. The murder happens off screen but we hear the muffled yelling.

Further information

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