Pig (2021)
Pig, Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut, is the unexpected, must-see film of the summer. Of course, what Pig does best is the unexpected. The story doesn’t move the way you expect it to, but that’s what makes it great. That makes it hard to write a review without spoilers, but I’ll spare you the biggest ones.
Nicholas Cage plays Rob, a quiet man who lives with his pig, Pig. They hunt for truffles in the Oregon woods, living a quiet life of solitude. Their only contact with the outside world comes once a month, when Amir (Alex Wolff) comes to trade basic goods for truffles, which he sells to Portland’s high-end restaurants. Then, Pig is taken one night, and Rob turns to Amir to get her back.
Their search takes them into Portland. We learn that Rob used to be the greatest chef in Portland, and he has connections. He doesn’t know where his pig is, but he knows where to look and who to ask. Rob and Amir explore the dangerous world of the restaurant industry — including an underground fight club and the head of the truffle trade, Amir’s cold, calculated father.
Pig is, at its most basic, a film about grief. Rob grieves for his wife, whose death (years ago) prompted him to leave Portland behind and live in the woods, cutting himself off from the world. She recorded a tape for his birthday that he can’t bring himself to listen to. The loss of his pig, the only thing he has, devastates him. Amir grieves, too — for his mother, and the hole her loss left between him and his father.
Sarnoski’s screenplay, co-written by Vanessa Block, is emotional and real, delivered with talent by its cast. Cage’s performance is phenomenal; Cage is a great actor, after all, when given the right material. He commands each scene he’s in; so does Alex Wolff, who holds his own opposite the veteran actor.
I truly can’t say enough about Pig. I don’t want to spoil it, so I’ll stop here, but I encourage you to see this film. It’s one of the best this year.
