The new horror film that Martin Scorsese calls “deeply disturbing”
Martin Scorsese has always been supportive of younger filmmakers who aren’t afraid to take risks in the highly codified landscape of contemporary cinema. That’s why he has championed the works of directors such as Ari Aster, who have tried their best to deviate from the formulaic genre frameworks preferred by studio executives and producers.
In a recent interview, Scorsese revealed his admiration for another filmmaker who has been garnering a lot of attention this year – Ti West. 2022 has been an especially good year for West as he has already released two films – X and Pearl – and is currently working on his next project titled MaXXXine.
While talking about West’s vision of cinema, Scorsese pointed out that his films are defined by a profound cinephilia which is evident in every segment of his work. Scorsese commented: “Ti West’s movies have a kind of energy that is so rare these days, powered by a pure, undiluted love for cinema. You feel it in every frame.”
West kicked this year off with X, which received a lot of praise from fans and audiences who were delighted by West’s interpretation of the slasher genre and its traditions. The film revolves around a pornography film crew who travel to rural Texas for a shoot but end up being terrorised by an unpredictable killer.
While X definitely left an impact on audiences, the film that impressed Scorsese the most was West’s subsequent prequel Pearl. He said: “A prequel to X made in a diametrically opposite cinematic register (think 50s Scope colour melodramas), Pearl makes for a wild, mesmerising, deeply — and I mean deeply — disturbing 102 minutes.”
Starring Mia Goth, who has become one of Hollywood’s most eccentric stars, Pearl serves up a terrifying origin story for the antagonist we see in X. Co-written by Goth, it is safe to say that West and Goth make a formidable creative duo. Now, Goth is set to star in a sequel to X called MaXXXine, which is in production right now.
Scorsese was so disturbed by the film that he had trouble sleeping. The auteur admitted: “West and his muse and creative partner Mia Goth really know how to toy with their audience… before they plunge the knife into our chests and start twisting. I was enthralled, then disturbed, then so unsettled that I had trouble getting to sleep. But I couldn’t stop watching.”
