Jesse Felt

An immensely well written metaphor for parenthood and family disguised as a horror. Don't get me wrong, this was the first horror in a couple decades that managed to make me check the shadows, but this is not about the scare. It's about the characters and their struggles and growth. Certainly the best writing I've seen in a Netflix original, and some of the best writing in any episodic content out there. Right up there with titles like Breaking Bad. I highly recommend this, but go into it knowing that it is much more than just a horror.

This film starts out feeling weird as balls, with an almost cognitive dissonance invoked by the similar vibes to existing properties such as John Wick or Taken. At first I was not sure whether to take this movie seriously or to view it through a lens of tongue in cheek fun-poking at a film industry that all too often resolves to copy catting successful properties rather than bringing something new, interesting, and risky to the table. It would be too easy to see Nick Cage on the poster and assume the worst, that this is just some oddball little movie that made for an easy payday. Maybe that is what it was, maybe not. But I wholeheartedly feel that Pig has managed to be more than the sum of its parts. Nick Cage puts in a tremendous performance that feels like nothing I've seen from him before. His character feels legitimate, vulnerable, and grounded, even while surrounded by the sometimes surreal setting, such as the underground chef fight club. You could say that this film has all of the Nick Cage with none of the Nick Rage. By the end of the film I found myself completely empathetic to each of the characters despite there having been no drawn out exposition to inform me of their past or what brought them to where they are today. Don't let the trailer fool you, this is not your typical Nick Cage vehicle, filled with over the top ridiculousness. This film is definitely a character drama through and through. It's a sometimes slow burning journey into the soul of our main character and those around him. Fueled by what seems to be a true passion for food, almost akin to the level which we saw in John Favreau's Chef (2014). While I would place that film a step higher on the "food lovers films" list, I was constantly reminded of the care and attention given in that film and suspect that at some point in the production process someone who loves food was involved. 4.5/5|8.5/10