'Piggy' review: Carlota Pereda's searing feminist horror turns body shaming into bloody games

The sweltering, small-town summer heat hovers in the air in 'Piggy,' the scorching feature debut from Spanish filmmaker Carlota Pereda. Part coming-of-age romance, part psychological body horror, “Piggy” firmly establishes Pereda as a bold new voice in feminist horror – the recently flourishing subgenre popularized by Julia Ducournau, Ana Lily Amirpour and Jennifer Reeder.

Aided by a dynamite performance from newcomer Laura Galán, "Piggy" uses the tension of a slasher thriller to weave together a painfully relatable story of teenage angst gone horribly wrong. As body shame and self-loathing turn into a disturbing complicity with violence, "Piggy" pushes the torments of youth to their naturally evil ends. The film's most brilliant trick is to mire the audience in the twisted moral dilemma facing its protagonist, taunting us with the question: what would you have done differently?

Charging its resonant title with a double meaning, "Piggy" opens in a butcher's shop. Opening frames include a whole pig hanging from a meat hook; the cleaver on the bone; and the springy bounce of dark purple sausage. Sara (Galán) sucks on a lock of her curly black hair as she studies at the counter, her homework stained with pig's blood. Through the window of her family's shop, she observes a group of carefree teenagers flirting playfully in the summer heat, so comfortable in their lithe young bodies. She stands to attention as two of the girls enter the shop to take an order, looking charged with unspoken familiarity.

In this brief opening scene, a few knowing glances explain a lifetime of configuration. Sara's old friend Claudia (Irene Ferreiro) now only hangs out with popular girls, who taunt Sara about her weight with cruel names like "piggy" and "Miss Bacon", without the parents knowing. curious but ignorant of Sara (Carmen Machi and Julián Valcárcel). One of the mean girls posts a quick family photo in the butcher shop on Instagram with the caption "Three little pigs".

"Pig"

Magnet release

Troubled by this cruel interaction, Sara heads to the town pool to cool off, barely noticing the eerily empty public park. She is entirely alone except for a hulking man who springs from the water, locking Sara in very penetrating eye contact. The moment is cut short by the trio of mean girls, who nearly drown Sara by assaulting her with a pool net before flying off with her towel and her belongings.

Ashamed and hurt, she cries all the time...