Pearl ending explained: Pearl was going to be a star by any means necessary

With the release of MaXXXine in theaters back in July, Ti West's X trilogy is now complete. The film series consists of X (2022), Pearl (2022) and MaXXXine (2024). MaXXXine isn't available yet to stream, and X was on Netflix earlier this year before it made its departure. Pearl is the only movie in the film series that you can stream at the moment, and luckily, it's now on our favorite streamer, Netflix.

Unlike X and MaXXXine, which are straight slashers, Pearl is a psychological horror film. We're taken back to 1918, where a young, aspiring actress named Pearl lives with her overbearing mother and ailing father on their isolated Texas farm. Pearl has dreams of being a movie star, but her controlling mother and responsibilities on the farm make it hard for her to pursue them. She refuses to give up, though, and it's her extreme tenacity to make it big that ultimately pushes her down a dark, murderous path.

But did Pearl achieve her dream of being a star in the end? Find out below as we share a breakdown of what happened at the end of Ti West's Pearl.

Major spoilers ahead from Pearl.

How does Pearl end?

After killing everyone she saw as a threat to her dreams and not getting the part in the dance troupe, Pearl descends into complete madness. She accepts that she will forever be trapped on the farm and never make a name for herself. The last person she kills is her sister-in-law Misty, whom she cuts up and then feeds to Theda, the alligator.

Then, she dresses up her badly decomposed mother and father's bodies and props them up at the dining table around a rotten feast. This is her attempt at making herself and the house presentable for her military husband's (Howard) return. Her mental state has deteriorated so badly that she doesn't even realize that what she's doing is wrong. Just as she's about to bring a pitcher of juice to the table, Howard walks through the door and stares in shock at what's going on.

Pearl expresses to him how happy she is that he's back at home, but all Howard can do is stare at her with an uneasy expression. Pearl then smiles creepily at him with her smile becoming increasingly creepy as the credits roll.

Who dies in Pearl?

Four characters die in this horror film, and they all die by the hands of Pearl. Below, we shared which characters are killed by Pearl and how.

The projectionist

After driving Pearl home so that she can prepare for her dance audition, the projectionist becomes suspicious of her after he notices her acting strangely. He also notices a rotting pig sitting on her doorstep, which makes him more suspicious. He's officially done with her after he asks her about her dog, and she responds by saying that she doesn't have one even though she told him previously that she did.

The projectionist then comes up with an excuse to leave her, but Pearl goes mad and chases after him with a pitchfork that she uses to stab him in the chest and mouth fatally. She then puts his dead body back in his car before pushing the car into the pond, where Theda eats his remains.

Pearl's father

After killing the projectionist, Pearl heads back into her house to prepare for her dance audition. But before she leaves, she kills her sick father by smothering him with a pillowcase.

Ruth, Pearl's mother

Ruth is the first person to get attacked by Pearl. After they get into a physical altercation during dinner, Pearl accidentally pushes Ruth into the fireplace, setting her on fire. Pearl tries to put the fire out by throwing water on her, but she ends up picking up a pot of boiling water. The hot water burns Ruth's body badly, but this doesn't stop Pearl from throwing her into the basement. Pearl returns later to push Ruth down the basement stairs and leaves her there to die.

Misty

After not getting the part in the dance troupe, a sad Pearl returns home. Misty shows up and tries to comfort her, which leads Pearl to confess to the murders she committed, among other bad deeds. After pressuring Misty to reveal that she got the part in the troupe, Pearl then tries to convince her not to tell anyone about the murders.

While it initially looks like Pearl is going to let Misty live, Pearl walks out of the house, picks up an axe, and then chases after her with it. She slashes Misty with the axe until she falls to the ground before delivering one final blow. As mentioned earlier, Pearl later cuts up Misty's body before feeding her remains to Theda.

What did you think about Pearl's ending?