Ti West on Collaborating With Mia Goth and Keeping ’Pearl’ a Secret

Pearl is the secret prequel no one saw coming. Pearl was shot immediately following X, Ti West’s slasher film about young would-be porn stars making a movie in the middle of nowhere, Texas in the 1970s and getting more than they bargained for when the owner of the farm they are renting from takes issue with the cast’s beauty and freedom. Pearl follows the murderer of X when she was a young, vibrant woman, full of hope for the future, and how that all went to hell. It’s not exactly a horror movie, but it’s not exactly a “feel good“ movie, either - despite being brightly lit in a Technicolor dreamscape, complete with dance numbers. We spoke with Ti about how he was able to get two movies greenlit before he had even shot the first (thanks, A24!) and keeping it a secret throughout. It will be the story that will become Hollywood legend: shooting in New Zealand because of Covid-19 safety protocols; writing the script for Pearl as a backstory for Mia Goth’s character during quaranti