Plot
In 1918, Pearl is a young woman living with her German immigrant parents on their farm in Texas, while her husband, Howard, serves in World War I. Her father is infirm and paralyzed, and her strict mother, Ruth, insists that she help care for both him and the farm as they isolate themselves to protect against the Spanish flu pandemic. Pearl aspires to be a chorus girl or a film star, which Ruth disapproves of, and she chafes under the isolation. Pearl also shows signs of repressed rage and violence. She abuses her father in secret and kills animals, which she feeds to an alligator she has nicknamed Theda.
One day while visiting town, Pearl meets a projectionist who takes a liking to her. After returning to the farm, Pearl dances with a scarecrow in a cornfield and has sex with it. During supper, Ruth berates Pearl and withholds her food, as Pearl claimed to have bought sweets on the way home to explain the missing 8 cents she spent on her ticket to the pictures.
Pearl learns from her wealthy sister-in-law Mitsy about an audition to select new dancers for a troupe across the state. She sees this as her chance to escape a life spent on the farm and caring for her father. Later, she visits a projectionist who shows her the forbidden stag film A Free Ride and urges her to chase her dreams. Pearl, however, insists she cannot leave her family, remarking, "If only they would just die."
The next night, Ruth and Pearl get into an argument over dinner as she reveals she knows about Pearl's visits to the movies. Pearl confesses she wants to audition and asks for Ruth's permission, to which she declares Pearl as her biggest failure. An altercation erupts during which Pearl shoves her mother against the hearth, causing her dress to catch fire. As she burns, Pearl pours boiling water onto her to douse the flames and then drags her into the basement while leaving her father alone in the room. She then flees to the theater, where she sleeps with the projectionist.
The following morning, the projectionist drives Pearl home to prepare for the audition. However, he is disturbed by her sudden agitated behavior, as well as the sight of a rotting pig that her mother-in-law left for Ruth several days before. As he tries to leave, Pearl erupts into a fit of rage at the perceived abandonment and stabs him to death with a pitchfork. She pushes his car into a pond, where Theda eats his remains. Pearl dresses herself in one of Ruth's Belle Époque gowns and dresses up her father before smothering him to death using a pillow cover.
Pearl arrives at the church to attend the audition. She thinks her dance performance will impress the talent scouts, but is rejected for not being young, blonde, or "all-American". Mitsy accompanies her home in an attempt to console her, which results in Pearl launching into a lengthy confession regarding many things, from resentment toward her husband and having an affair to killing animals, her parents, and the projectionist. Pearl then coerces a stunned Mitsy into confessing that she won the audition. As Mitsy tries to leave, Pearl chases her down the driveway and kills her with an axe.
Pearl dismembers Mitsy's body and feeds the remains to Theda, then goes into the basement and lies next to Ruth's corpse. She decides to atone for her crimes by creating a home for Howard. Some time later, Howard returns and is greeted with the long-decomposed bodies of Pearl's parents seated at the dining table around the rotting feast. As Howard stares in horror, Pearl greets him with a protracted, pained smile, saying, "I'm so happy you're home."
