Pearl: Acclaimed horror’s ‘ridiculous’ UK release date has infuriated film fans

People are desperate to see the word-of-mouth hit

UK film fans wanting to watch Pearl in the cinema have been left furious by its release date.

The acclaimed horror film, from director Ti West, is a prequel to X, which was released earlier this year.

In the US, A24 distributed the slasher, which paid homage to horror films of the 1970s. Set in 1979, X follows a group of young filmmakers attempting to make an adult film on a ranch in rural Texas.

However, their efforts are stalled when their elderly married hosts catch them in the act – and things take a turn for the deadly.

Pearl is a prequel, set in 1912, focusing on the life of one of the hosts, who has lived on the ranch all her life.

Living under the watch of her strict mother, Pearl dreams of breaking free to live a life of Hollywood stardom – a desite that manifests in dangerous ways.

Mia Goth, who played an adult film star in X, takes on the role of a young Pearl. Her performance has generated extremely positive reviews since the film’s US release in September.

The film became a word-of-mouth hit, grossing $9.4m from a budget of just $1m.

Many have praised it on social media, and have also shared several memes and clips of the film, which has in turn left film fans in the UK wondering when they will get to see it.

After posters of the film began appearing in cinemas across the country, it was believed that a UK release date wasn’t too far away – however, it has now been set... for 17 March.

Mia Goth in the extremely delayed ‘Pearl’ (Universal Pictures)

That means that Pearl will come out an entire six months after its US theatrical release, and five months after it became available on video-on-demand services overseas.

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Naturally, film fans are not impressed with the release date announcement and, after it was flagged by independent magazine Filmhounds, people shared their frustrations on social media.

Film writer and broadcaster Anna Bogutskaya wrote: “Excuse me?”

@drag_zilla wrote: “Too damn late,” with @scottyReading adding: “Really?!?!?! Ridiculous. SIX MONTHS after the US. Why bother. We want to see it sooner.”

Find more angry reactions below.

The good news is that, when the UK finally does get to see Pearl, the wait for the third film in the series, MaXXXine, will be a lot shorter than it would have been. The film is currently in development, and will be set after the events of X.

The Independent has contacted Universal for comment.