Mia Goth and Ty West on Pearl’s famous fan Martin Scorsese – and what’s next in MaXXXine

Playing like a Golden Age Hollywood movie slathered in blood, Pearl is the horror movie that everyone’s talking about… including Martin Scorsese. Now the horror prequel to X is finally heading to the UK in March, director Ti West and his co-creator/star Mia Goth spoke to Total Film, in the latest issue with John Wick on the cover, all about the new movie. The pair addressed their famous fan and what to expect in the upcoming third movie MaXXXine, plus we have an exclusive image from Pearl which you can see above. 

Set in 1918 as the Spanish flu swirls, Pearl tells the origin story of one of Goth’s characters in X. As a young woman trapped on an isolated farm, she tends to her ailing father and is watched over by her hectoring mother, while dreaming of a different glamorous life. "You know, Pearl, as a character, her story when she was young is one of hope and naivety and aspirations and excitement and enthusiasm," says West. "That, to me, just felt like the more traditional almost Disney-like… or Golden Age of Hollywood-type theatrical presentation. I do come to it from a classical approach. It just happens to be that the movies I make are, you know, kind of weird. It’s a strange thing to see someone beheaded in a Disney movie."

The movie has already got its fair share of fans, landing rave reviews at Venice Film Festival and a glowing recommendation from Martin Scorsese. The auteur said he was "enthralled, then disturbed, then so unsettled that I had trouble getting to sleep. But I couldn’t stop watching." Responding to the compliment, West said: "It means absolutely as much as you would think it would. It’s a real sort of humbling experience to have worked so hard on something, and to see it land for people. And the Scorsese thing is… You know, the difference, for me, between him saying that and my mom saying it is that Martin Scorsese has seen just about every movie that’s ever been made. So if he says it’s good…"

Goth and West will soon be reuniting for the third movie in the trilogy, MaXXXine, based on another character Goth played in X. West is keen to keep the mystery about that one though, telling Total Film: "What’s been fun about these movies has been how little people know. So I’m going to try, as best I can, to hold on to as much mystery as possible." While Goth adds: "It’s the best script out of the three. It’s such a fun film, such a wild ride. I think fans of the previous two movies are going to love the little nuggets that are scattered through the script that reference the previous movies."

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Pearl is released in the UK on March 17, 2023. For more from West and Goth about Pearl, pick up a copy of the new issue of Total Film, which hits stands (and digital devices) this Thursday, February 2. Check out the covers below:

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