‘Piggy’ Review: a half-cooked tale of revenge that just isn’t meaty enough
Since the release of Carlota Pereda’s short film Piggy in 2018, the Spanish director has transformed the story into a 90-minute horror feature, with actor Laura Galán reprising her role as Sara, a shy, overweight teenager.
Set during a hot summer in rural Spain, Sara spends most of her time helping her family run the butcher shop or secretly swimming at the pool. After a series of opening shots of raw meat being sliced, we are introduced to the kind of bullying Sara is subjected to every day. The popular girls call Sara ‘piggy’ and oink at her, even filming her at work and posting the video to social media. Soon, an unwanted encounter at the swimming pool sees the girls attempt to drown Sara, eventually running away with her clothes and towel.
This incident sets off a chain of events that will permanently change Sara’s life. When she sees a mysterious man drive away with the bullies in the back of his van, they bang on the window, pleading with Sara for help. The teenager is faced with the chance to help the girls who torment her or let them disappear with the terrifying bare-chested brute in his blood-stained vehicle.
The premise is captivating enough, and there are plenty of attention-grabbing moments that occur near the beginning of the film, such as Sara unknowingly swimming past a corpse in the pool. Yet Piggy loses momentum quickly, perhaps due to the flimsy characterisation of Sara. Although Galán works well with the material she is given, we know little about Sara besides the fact that she is a victim of body-shaming bullies. She spends so much time crying and screaming that her presence becomes annoying, and her lack of communication with others becomes frustrating to watch.
Multiple scenes, such as the initial hunt for the missing bullies, are drawn out far too long, making the genuinely suspenseful moments, such as a direct encounter with the mystery man, later on, feel slightly disjointed. The horrific turn the film takes in the last half an hour, which is set inside a slaughterhouse, had the potential to become one of the year’s most gruesome and unforgettable moments. Instead, lots of screaming and pleading occurs, tainting the scene with a tediousness that detracts from the overall horror.
Despite the film’s predictable nature, we are left with more questions than answers once Piggy ends. Still, the film has its redeeming qualities. All of the performances are strong and haunting, and Sara’s mother (Carmen Machi) plays the overbearing and protective parent role all too well. Similarly, the film’s pastel pink colour palette is pleasing to the eye, and shots of the sun-drenched pool are delightful. This makes for an interesting contrast between the ‘acceptable’ violence that Sara faces day-to-day and the abject violence shot in the murky, grey slaughterhouse.
Pereda’s debut film suggests that violence is everywhere, whether drenched in blood or spread verbally. Her biting attack on social structures and her frank depiction of overweight bodies make Piggy a refreshing take on the revenge story. Unfortunately, the film’s potential is lost on undeveloped characters and a meandering centre-piece.
