Ali Cook’s The Pearl Comb arrives at a moment when genre filmmaking feels increasingly bloated, reminding audiences that horror, intelligent horror, still has the capacity to be intimate, layered, and unexpectedly humane. As the British short film continues its remarkable festival run with 60 awards and counting, what stands out most is not its ambition but the startling control behind it. Cook doesn’t simply experiment with genre, he bends it to his will. Fantasy, horror, drama, mystery, and social commentary all coexist without competing, each scene maintaining an unwavering grip on mood. Even the lightly comedic beats harmonize with the atmosphere rather than puncturing it, a rarity in contemporary genre work.
This tonal precision is perhaps the film’s greatest triumph. While many directors attempt the “elevated horror” blend made fashionable by films like Hereditary, Cook actually earns it. The supernatural elements feel like extensions of the emotional stakes, not attempts to distract from them. Timothy Spall described the film as “atmospheric, intriguing, beautifully shot and very well performed,” but even that underplays the sophistication of the craft on display.
What gives The Pearl Comb its soul, however, is the story at its center. Set in 1893, it follows a fisherman’s wife who becomes the first person to cure tuberculosis, an act that draws not celebration but scrutiny from a doctor determined to reinforce the belief that a woman’s place is in the home. Executive producer Miranda Richardson, a two-time Academy Award nominee, captured the film’s thematic pulse succinctly when she noted that its power lies in its performances and its examination of “the resilience of women against the societal structures that attempt to suppress them.” Cook grounds the film in the real-life legacy of the Edinburgh Seven, the first women to study medicine in the United Kingdom, and the historical echoes deepen the film’s impact.
The cast’s work is crucial to making this blend of realism and fantasy resonate. Beatie Edney, known for Highlander, delivers a performance of eerie composure that makes her character’s calm almost unsettling. Her presence is enriched by her lineage as the daughter of the late film star Sylvia Syms, though Edney’s work more than stands on its own. Simon Armstrong is affecting and sympathetic as the alcoholic fisherman who rescues a mystical creature, while Clara Paget is hypnotic and strangely compelling as the mermaid whose otherworldly presence propels the narrative. Cook himself, in a supporting role, makes Gregory’s dismissive arrogance feel painfully authentic, the embodiment of institutional insecurity.
Although a short, The Pearl Comb possesses the visual sophistication of a feature. The cinematography and production design are commanding without ever feeling showy, and the visual effects are elegant in a way few shorts dare to attempt. It is original, absorbing, and meticulously crafted. There simply isn’t a weak link.
Cook’s trajectory as a filmmaker seems increasingly inevitable. His BAFTA long-listed short The Cunning Man gained significant traction on the festival circuit, screening at 88 festivals and earning 33 awards. With The Pearl Comb, Cook steps firmly into the spotlight. His background as a writer and performer of comedy series, including the British Comedy Award-nominated Dirty Tricks, reveals the breadth of his storytelling sensibilities, while his acting work in AMC’s Ragdoll, the BIFA award-winning Kajaki, and the upcoming Channel 4 project Falling demonstrates a career defined by versatility rather than branding.
His next directorial project, the feature The Grimoire, co-written with Eric Garcia, showrunner of Kaleidoscope for Netflix, and produced by Chris Curling of Zephyr Films, has already positioned him as a filmmaker ready to scale up. Curling’s résumé, which includes The Last Station and The Miracle Club, suggests he is not in the business of backing uncertain talent.
As producer Joanna Laurie observed, “The Pearl Comb immediately set itself apart, ambitious, smart, scary, dramatic, funny, and above all, expertly crafted.” In a landscape where genre films often chase virality or shock value, Cook seems more interested in the old fashioned art of captivating an audience. And that, ironically, feels like the most radical approach of all.
