{The teenager} Sara (Laura Galán) is snug with sharp knives and dying: She helps out in her father’s butcher store, in any case, and so they typically hunt collectively. As we watch a trio of imply women mercilessly mock Sara as a result of she’s obese, it’s pure to count on a brutal payback — that the poster for this Spanish film depicts the lead drenched in blood could be one other clue. However whereas “Piggy” does take a gory flip, it’s additionally a left one: The director Carlota Pereda rigorously units up our expectations solely to subvert them.
Proper after her tormentors steal her garments whereas she’s having fun with a solo swim on the native outside pool, Sara watches them being kidnapped by a mysterious stranger (Richard Holmes). That man, hulking and grunting, is an agent of chaos, his motives unknown and his actions seemingly arbitrary. He’s concurrently terrifying and interesting to Sara, who has loads of causes to not less than fantasize about violent retribution. However she isn’t the victim-turned-avenging angel so typically present in horror motion pictures or thrillers, and as a substitute emerges as an advanced protagonist who makes errors and isn’t at all times straightforward to love. So is her well-intentioned mom (Carmen Machi), who thinks Sara should food regimen to keep away from taunts.
Pereda, who additionally wrote the script, isn’t afraid of psychological and ethical ambiguity: It’s apparent that she is on Sara’s aspect — the bullying scenes are a lot more durable to observe than the bloody ones — however she additionally is aware of that disgrace, guilt and secrecy fester into messy conditions and messy folks.
Piggy
Not rated. In Spanish, with subtitles. Working time: 1 hour half-hour. In theaters.