The sweltering heat of summer in a small town hangs thick in the air in “Piggy,” the blistering feature debut from Spanish filmmaker Carlota Pereda. Part coming-of-age romance, part psychological body horror, “Piggy” firmly establishes Pereda as a bold new voice in feminist horror — that recently flourishing sub-genre popularized by the likes of Julia Ducournau, Ana Lily Amirpour, and Jennifer Reeder.
Aided by a dynamite performance from newcomer Laura Galán, As body shame and self-loathing morph into a disturbing complicity with violence, “Piggy” pushes the torments of youth to their naturally wicked ends. The film’s most brilliant trick is to mire the audience in the twisted moral dilemma with which its protagonist is grappling, taunting us with the question: What would you have done differently?
Loading its resonant title with double meaning, “Piggy” opens in a butcher shop. The opening frames include a whole pig hanging from a meat...
Aided by a dynamite performance from newcomer Laura Galán, As body shame and self-loathing morph into a disturbing complicity with violence, “Piggy” pushes the torments of youth to their naturally wicked ends. The film’s most brilliant trick is to mire the audience in the twisted moral dilemma with which its protagonist is grappling, taunting us with the question: What would you have done differently?
Loading its resonant title with double meaning, “Piggy” opens in a butcher shop. The opening frames include a whole pig hanging from a meat...
- 10/14/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
There’s a reason Carlota Pereda films Sara (Laura Galán) urinating through her clothes as an old friend (Irene Ferreiro’s Claudia), who’s drifted away towards the clique that bullies her, puts a bloody hand on the back window of a serial killer’s van while screaming for help. We need to understand her fear. Just because Sara is a teenager who’s been brutally victimized by an entire town of peers doesn’t mean she’s measuring the situation and deciding to let Claudia, Maca (Claudia Salas), and Roci (Camille Aguilar) die. She’s afraid for her own life. What if she tries to save them and the killer (Richard Holmes) watching from the driver’s seat simply throws her in the back? So she freezes. And, to her surprise, he helps her instead.
Therein lies the complexity of Piggy, a feature expansion of Pereda’s short film of the same name.
Therein lies the complexity of Piggy, a feature expansion of Pereda’s short film of the same name.
- 10/4/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Based on her 2018 short of the same name, Carlota Pereda’s contribution to 2022’s Fantasia International Film Festival is one of the most horrific films in the line-up, for reasons which have little to do with the serial killer whose crimes it addresses and everything to do with mundane forms of cruelty which are all too common in real life.
Laura Galán plays Sara, a lonely teenager from Villanueva de la Vera in Etremadura, Spain. Her mother (Carmen Machi), who talks over her constantly, is completely oblivious to her social situation, urging her to tag along on trips with other high schoolers where she would not be welcome, making assumptions about a friendship with Claudia (Irene Ferreiro) which effectively ended years ago. Sara hides away as much as she can. She’s pretty busy anyway, expected to help out her father (Julián Valcárcel) in the family butcher’s shop, errands for one.
Laura Galán plays Sara, a lonely teenager from Villanueva de la Vera in Etremadura, Spain. Her mother (Carmen Machi), who talks over her constantly, is completely oblivious to her social situation, urging her to tag along on trips with other high schoolers where she would not be welcome, making assumptions about a friendship with Claudia (Irene Ferreiro) which effectively ended years ago. Sara hides away as much as she can. She’s pretty busy anyway, expected to help out her father (Julián Valcárcel) in the family butcher’s shop, errands for one.
- 8/3/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Piggy Review — Piggy (2022) Film Review from the 44th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie directed by Carlota Martinez-Pereda, starring Laura Galán, Carmen Machi, Fernando Delgado-Hierro, Julián Valcárcel, José Pastor, Claudia Salas, Pilar Castro, Camille Aguilar, and Richard Holmes. If vacationing teenaged girls were the only bullies targeting overweight Sara (Laura Galán), the daughter [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Piggy: Town Scapegoat Lifts Herself Up to Grindhouse Hero [Sundance 2022]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Piggy: Town Scapegoat Lifts Herself Up to Grindhouse Hero [Sundance 2022]...
- 1/31/2022
- by David McDonald
- Film-Book
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.