Adann-Kennn Alexxandar is pictured in this 2017 file photo. The long-time Valdosta Daily Times movie critic reviews the latest movie releases.

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, etc.

Director: Tom George

Rated: PG-13 (Violence/bloody images, language and sexual reference)

Movie Review: Agatha Christie’s “Mouse Trap” is being performed on stage in 1950s London’s West End. The stage play is getting ready for cinematic release, so Hollywood director Leo Köpernick (Brody), who will direct the feature, is watching the play for movie ideas.

The successful play halts production after someone murders Köpernick. Cynical Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) and ambitious rookie Constable Stalker (Ronan) solve the case, which is gaining public interest.

This good whodunit satire goes into the theater’s underground operations. It is a nice comical screenplay about the back scene workings of a stage play.

As the main characters played nicely by Rockwell and Ronan investigate, their clues take them to interesting places. Some of their destinations are dangerous and lead to bigger mysteries.

As the crime crusaders continue their case, audiences’ treat is an array of characters, each with motives to kill.

“See How They Run” goes astray with its portrayal of Agatha Christie and other shenanigans proceeding near its ending. However, it is still worthy of laughs. The array of characters intrigue thanks to good performances by the cast.

Grade: B- (Despite a short run at cinemas, the antics are amusing.)

“Pearl” (Horror: 1 hour, 43 minutes)

Starring: Mia Goth, Tandi Wright, David Corenswet and Emma Jenkins-Purro

Director: Ti West

Rated: R (Strong violence, gore, strong sexual content and graphic nudity)

Movie Review: Director-writer Ti West and actress and cowriter Mia Goth give the backstory on how Pearl became the older murdering woman in “X,” which debuted earlier this year.

“X” and “Pearl,” Ti West is the director for both movies and the screenplays are uncannily inviting as they are bloody.

Mia Goth plays the crazed Pearl again as she is in “X.” Pearl lives in a rural area with her overbearing mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright), and her paraplegic father (Matthew Sunderland) during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Pearl dreams of a life away from the farm. She wants to be a dancer in movies. As the young woman makes plans to leave the farm for moviedom, she finds obstacles in her path. However, Pearl has ways of ridding those in her path.

Pearl is an immersive character study about the decline in one’s mental health.

Her ambitious goals for a better life override any sense of morality. Mia Goth makes the role enticing, as Pearl is manipulative and off-putting yet still mesmerizing. Goth demands your attention and she holds it.

“Pearl” has the feel of a movie from the 1970s. Ti West’s skill to produce horror is keen.

He centers on human behavior, people’s more primitive instincts. But he gives reasons for his people’s behavior. Such works, even if he pushes the envelope with an abundance of violent moments.

Grade: B (She is a pearl.)

Adann-Kennn Alexxandar has reviewed movies for more than 20 years in South Georgia.