82
Metascore
39 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100ConsequenceClint WorthingtonConsequenceClint WorthingtonSarnoski’s debut is a scintillating tone poem about the inextricable links between love, creativity, and commerce, and what happens when the latter encroaches too much upon the former.
- 100Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAustin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAt a time when so many people are struggling to find something of value in their lives, when people are fleeing jobs, cities, futures they thought they wanted, Cage has crafted a quiet soliloquy about grasping on to something that has meaning. In some ways, this is one of his most emotionally brutal films.
- 100The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloLike the animal itself, Pig is considerably smarter and more ardent than it appears at first glance, and unearths treasures that are barely evident on the surface level. We’d have settled for much less, but what a rare treat to be offered a great deal more.
- 90SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaPig is not the movie you think it is. It’s something far more beautiful, and far more painful. It is an existential meditation on the search for something. Anything. A kind of cosmic loneliness envelopes this film. It’s extraordinary.
- 88Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MoorePig hangs on Cage’s soulful intensity in the part, a man who used to be somebody who, as one contemptuous old acquaintance hisses “doesn’t exist” now.
- 83The PlaylistAndrew CrumpThe PlaylistAndrew CrumpThere’s no action here, no real revenge to take, but there’s a meaty, idiosyncratic, and especially moving story about finding peace in loss.
- 80VarietyMichael NordineVarietyMichael NordineAs a descent into the apparently high-stakes world of truffle-pig-poaching, Pig is unexpectedly touching; as a showcase for Cage’s brilliance, it’s a revelation.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenNicolas Cage, in full martyr mode here, seems to get off on the perversity of, well, caging his brand of operatic hysteria.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenPig isn’t the gripping mystery Sarnoski might have intended, but as a crawl through the underbelly of a hipster city’s glamorous foodie culture, it’s a gutsy narrative recipe, even if the final dish is less than the sum of its ingredients. Through it all, Cage plays the enigmatic central character at the perfect simmering temperature, and without a shred of ham.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeCage is remarkably restrained (bar one unnecessary scream), delicately deconstructing what we’ve come to expect from him. His trademark tics are gone, his voice that much softer, his swagger replaced by an unsureness, an aggressive blare that’s faded into calm.