The Pearl explores the raw emotional and physical experience of being a middle aged to senior transgender woman against the backdrop of post-industrial logging towns in the Pacific Northwest. The film leans into the struggle of those who were reared and successful as men and have reached middle age or later with a burdensome secret that they can no longer keep. We travel with four women, all in extremely early stages of coming out, as they attend the Esprit Conference--an annual event in northernmost Washington where transgender women that have lived closeted their whole lives come together in an environment that allows them to express their true identity. From here we follow these same 4 women over the course of nearly 3 years as they grapple with varying degrees of transition.