Darren Carver-Balsiger’s review published on Letterboxd:
Pig is an idiosyncratic film, but deeply moving nevertheless. In many scenes it manages to say a lot without using dialogue. Pig opens in the beautiful Oregon wilderness, far from large cities and the pain of people. It centres on a man with a secretive past, forced to go back into the urban world to find a pig stolen from him. Yet this is not John Wick with a pig, or any kind of brainless revenge thriller. Instead Pig is about things, it's about trying to find peace in a world that won't leave you alone. It's a film about finding what it is you value, and leaving behind the shallow world of status that we have created. It's difficult to cope with life, so we must prioritise our experiences rather than try to please others. Pig reveals itself to be a delicate work, despite its rough setting and seedy underworld. Nicolas Cage plays someone stoic and quiet, with only a couple of moments of rage. Pig does not play up Cage's eccentric acting and instead makes it part of the atmosphere and mood here. The score is haunting and also adds a lot. Pig is the sort of great work you don't expect, as it almost comes out nowhere. It doesn't really know how to end and probably has a few too many scenes in its finale, but there is little else to criticise. Pig is a stunning work, filled with subtle subversions and a lot of admirable filmmaking.
