The Best Final Girls (And Guys) In 2022 Horror Movies


Ti West’s double feature horror films feature the same woman in two stages of her life. Pearl (played as an old woman in “X” and a young woman in “Pearl” by Mia Goth), is a determined young woman coming of age at the height of the pandemic of 1918. She wants to be a movie star, but her responsibilities at home keep her from pursuing her dream — which, in turn, becomes a nightmare for those in her orbit. 

By “X,” set 60 years later in 1979, Pearl is an old woman. Her husband, Howard, allows for a group of young filmmakers to crash in their guest house who (unbeknownst to the older couple) make a porno film there. One of the women in the group, Maxine, is also played by Goth, and she is a spitting image of the young and spritely Pearl of years past who was determined to be a star. Both of these women have that drive and obsession needed to make it to the end of any horror film. 

Pearl is, naturally, the final girl of “Pearl,” which is a twisted and demented concept in and of itself, because Pearl is the film’s star and antagonist all at once. It’s not entirely uncommon, but it flips the final girl trope on its head, and it makes for a fun conflict within the viewer as they root for her.  

Pearl isn’t the final girl of “X” — Maxine is. Her willpower — marked by her mantra “I will not accept a life I do not deserve” — is a hurricane force that will and does destroy everything in its path necessary for survival — even the elderly Pearl.



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