The LA Times’ Glenn Whipp has already planted the flag, so to speak, in support of Mia Goth’s “Pearl” performance.
The other night … I was sitting with a handful of colleagues, all members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and we were sharing our favorite performances of the past couple of months. And one name kept coming up: Mia Goth, known to some for her turn opposite Anya Taylor-Joy in “Emma” and right now for her work in two connected A24 horror movie collaborations with filmmaker Ti West, “X” and “Pearl.”
My pal Jen Yamato recently wrote about Goth and “Pearl.” Don’t read until you’ve seen the movie though. Certainly, “Pearl” is not a traditional academy movie. But some critics group is going to plant the flag for Goth this year, prompting more people to check it out. Maybe that bunch of L.A. weirdos? Check back in a couple of months.
I can see Goth nabbing that LAFCA prize for Best Actress. She’s phenomenal in Ti West’s movie. Whether you liked “Pearl” or not, it’s very hard to deny just how great Goth is in the movie. She brilliantly uses multiple ranges of emotions to convey a character who is, essentially, a naive and delusional psychopath.
Even Variety has jumped on the Goth bandwagon, uttering the word Oscar in relation to her performance. And, know what? I’m totally on-board this train. Goth’s work in “Pearl” is way up there in terms of peak female performances of 2022.
No relation to Oscar whatsoever, other highlighted performances this year include Cate Blanchett (TAR), Vicky Krieps (Corsage), Thandiwe Newton (God’s Country), and Rebecca Hall (Resurrection).