Pig

I went into this movie blind. No trailers, no nothing. I just knew that it had Nicholas Cage, and he was looking for his pig. That’s it. What I got was a gripping, somber, emotional work of art about finding meaning in the things around you, as well as dealing with grief. Pig is gorgeous. It’s moving, and amazing. It’s going to stick with me for a while, and it’s currently my top movie of 2021. Cage delivers the performance of his career, as a subdued and subtle man who seemingly had it all, only to abandon it for a simpler existence. He plays the character with grace, and a firm grasp on who this man is. It helps that he’s saddled with Alex Wolff, who has come such a long way from when I first saw him on The Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon. In the past few years, I’ve seen him get more and more roles. As he matures, he shows the audience the ability he has to truly understand the roles he is playing. Whether it be the possessed teenager in Hereditary, or his upcoming role in the newest M. Night Shamylan venture Old. I look forward to seeing more from him, as he stealthily becomes one of the more sought after actors in young Hollywood. I wish I could say the same for his brother, but it seems that Alex is currently the more promising member of the family. I didn’t know what to expect from this movie. Honestly, thought it would actually take place during a time of settlers and cowboys and what not. So imagine my surprise when a beautiful yellow camaro pulls up. After that, we see a journey of two men who don’t really understand each other, as they both try to find their proverbial pig. One an actual swine, and one a paternal bond. We don’t meet who Cage truly is until the third act, but we learn who he was during this journey. His reputation precedes him, and you get an idea of the man behind the humble truffle farmer. The movie is broken into three parts, and much like an onion, peels back it’s layers the deeper you go. You know what I wasn’t expecting this to be? A love letter to food, and the relationship people can have with it. There’s a scene with Cage and Wolff in a kitchen that brought me to tears. Just beautiful. I can’t say enough good things about this movie, I truly can’t. I’ll sing it’s praises for a very long time. That ending though, that’s heavy. That hurt. Honestly? It felt good to hurt like that. Bravo to the entire team, this was fantastic.