Teenage Sarah (Laura Garan) is no stranger to sharp knives and death. After all, she helps out at her father’s butcher shop and they often hunt together. When you see three mean girls mercilessly teasing an overweight Sarah, it’s natural to expect brutal retaliation. But “Piggy” is going in a disastrous direction, but it’s also left wing. Director Carlota Pereda carefully sets our expectations and only subverts them.
Sarah sees them kidnapped by a mysterious stranger (Richard Holmes) shortly after her tormentor steals her clothes while she is swimming alone in a local outdoor pool. , a profuse growling, agent of chaos, whose motives are unclear and his actions seem arbitrary. But instead of being the victim-to-revenge angel you often see in horror movies and thrillers, she emerges as a complicated protagonist who makes mistakes and doesn’t always like it. So does Sara’s mother (Carmen Machi), who thinks Sarah must go on a diet to avoid provocation.
Pereda, who also wrote the script, is unafraid of psychological and moral ambiguity. It’s clear she’s on Sarah’s side — the bullying scenes are much harder to watch than the bloody ones — but she also knows shame, guilt, and secrecy can get worse. For awkward situations and awkward people.
Piggy
Unrated. Spanish, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. at the theater.