The Pearl Comb

Gregory Lutey is a physician with old-fashioned ideas about a woman’s role, sent to verify a local woman's claim of miraculous ability. He expects a simple case of superstition or fraud, but the situation grows stranger as he spends time in the coastal village. The woman at the center of the story radiates an eerie calm and seems tied to something that feels both natural and uncanny. As Gregory digs into her life and the community's lore, his clinical certainties start to wobble and he faces unsettling evidence that challenges what he thought he knew about power, faith, and the limits of scientific explanation.

Directed and led by Ali Cook, The Pearl Comb debuted in 2025 and assembles a cast including Beatie Edney, Simon Armstrong, Clara Paget, and Roxanne Cook, blending folk horror influences with intimate domestic scenes.

Box office details for The Pearl Comb were not widely reported, and no large-scale commercial totals have been publicly confirmed as of its initial release window.

The film’s visual motifs, especially the recurring mermaid imagery and the titular comb, have prompted conversations online about folklore, gendered myths, and coastal superstition. Even without blockbuster reach, its atmosphere and memorable set pieces have been shared and discussed by genre fans on social platforms and at smaller festival screenings.

Early reception has been mixed to positive, and its current vote average sits at 7.0/10 from a small number of ratings. Viewers and critics who respond to its tone point to themes of authority, belief versus evidence, and the social policing of women, wrapped in unsettling horror touches rather than jump scares. The pace favors mood and mounting unease, so the movie will appeal to those who like slow-burning, idea-driven horror rather than loud, effects-driven fare.