Pig movie review: Nicolas Cage’s triumphant performance in surprising, quiet film

You might think you know what Nicolas Cage’s new movie is going to be about, but you’re probably wrong.

On paper, there’s a fair bit in common between John Wick and Pig, Nicolas Cage’s latest movie, a surprising meditation on loss.

John Wick and Pig are both films about loners with a past they’re trying to leave behind, and who are dragged out of their self-imposed isolation because of what happens to their companion animals.

In John Wick’s case, it was a killed puppy that set him off on a mission of revenge. In Pig’s case, it’s the abduction of truffle forager Rob’s pig.

There are a few more similarities including a commitment to a laconic life, but John Wick and Pig couldn’t be more different, even though the logline suggests an action thriller about a determined man with little to lose.

Pig, directed by debutante Michael Sarnoski from a story by him and producer Vanessa Block, is a film that carefully reveals its contemplative spirit.

If you were expecting a shoot-em-up flick, you might be disappointed. But if you have an open mind, you will be rewarded with a melancholic and poignant story, and a superb, triumphant performance from Cage who has no trouble reminding audiences that he is an Oscar winner capable of incredible range and depth.

That’ll do pig, that’ll do. Picture: Neon

Rob lives out in a rustic hut in the Oregon woods with only a foraging pig for companion – which is how he prefers it. His hair is matted, his clothes are tattered, and he looks every bit the hermit he is.

It’s a quiet life, just him and his pig, captured with tenderness by Sarnoski and his director of photography, Patrick Scola.

Once a week, Rob has a wordless exchange with Amir (Alex Wolff), a young luxury ingredients supplier from Portland, marked by his yellow sports car and designer belt buckle.

One night, Rob is knocked out by a couple of thugs. When he awakens, his pig is gone. Calling on Amir for help, Rob returns to the city he once lived and where he once loomed large in its culinary scene.

Nicolas Cage turns in a triumphant performance. Picture: Neon

Central to Pig’s success is Cage’s penetrating and sad performance. It’s a mix of calm and sadness with and emotional turmoil, where every so often, the despair and rage breaks through that held-in exterior.

There’s no ego in Rob, he has nothing to prove to anyone else, which is the opposite to Wolff’s twitchy energy as Amir, a character who is all about what other people think of him. The two performances complement each other as well as tomato and basil.

Pig is a movie that actually de-escalates, its urgency is deliberately slowed down as it reaches its quiet climax. It’s an unusual approach but it works in line with the characters coming to a sort of peace with the losses in their lives.

Pig is certainly not the movie you would’ve expected but that’s a wonderful thing.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pig is in cinemas now (excluding lockdown areas)

Share your movies and TV obsessions | @wenleima

Originally published as Pig movie review: Nicolas Cage’s triumphant performance in surprising, quiet film