Carlota Pereda expanded this story from her successful, 2018 Goya-winning short of the same name. This feature-length version is once again set in the small town of Villanueva de la Vera in Extremadura. Sara, an obese teenager chooses to cool off in the local ‘river pool’ during the hottest period of the day because no one is around. She is desperate to avoid the constant taunts and bullying from her school mates, who find it hilarious to call her ‘Piggy’. When those mates and her best friend Claudia (Irene Ferreiro, who never defends her) find her there, they attack her in the pool and then rush off, stealing her clothes and leaving her helpless and distraught. They do not care that there is a witness.
Filming 'Piggy' with Laura Galán as Sara and Julián Valcarcel as her father.
Sara’s home life is no better. Totally devoid of any warmth, not even from little brother, she has nowhere but her headphone and her snacks, in which to take refuge from the world. Her mother Asun (the charismatic Carmen Machi) is unintentionally cruel, as mothers can be, trying to oblige her not to hang about the house but to go out.
The poor girl is trolled on social media at every turn. Photographs of her serving at the family butcher shop surrounded by pig heads is viciously mocked. Tortured, she finds isolation is her best defence. Her obese father Tomás (Julián Valcárcel) after whom she takes, refuses to engage or even take a stand either way and little brother tries to blackmail her for watching unsuitable websites on her phone. The effect has been so destructive that she no longer wants to go hunting rabbits with her father for the family butcher’s shop, despite being a top shot. When her bullies are kidnapped by a violent stranger, Sara is torn by the urge for revenge?
Laura Galán as she appears in the Short film 'Cerdita'.
Writer /director Carlota Pereda has always been fascinated by and influenced by some of the most powerful horror and slash movies. She likes to cite films like ‘Reservoir Dogs’, ‘The Blair project’, ‘Would you Kill a Child?’ 1976 (Chicho Ibáñez Serrador), films by Wes Anderson and the Gore queen Julia Ducournau, as well as, probably, the most controversial horror movie of all time, ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (1974). She also always likes to mention some powerful South Korean films that successfully explore this genre: -
Carlota Pereda: -
“I really love Korean cinema and filmmakers like Yeong Sang- Ho, or Bong Joon-ho (Memories of a Murder 2003) … and how they mix different genres in an entertaining and fluid way. I can’t avoid having a sense of humour, maybe because I don’t take myself too seriously... [but] the violence [in Piggy] was essential, because it leads to a catharsis from which we cannot escape.”
Carlota Pereda with her Goya Award.
Whilst in the short film, Sara’s ‘avenging angel’, the stranger who comes to town, remains almost invisible, in the new feature, he takes on a powerful and monstrous presence. In a layered and unexpected twist, we see that he is the first, and only, person to have ever offered her some recognition as a person, an element of warmth and, dare I say it, tenderness, even if it is in the form of a snack bar thrown through a window or a bloody towel thrown on the ground. Conflicted by an attraction and a repulsion, she resists the true horror of his actions from seeping into her conscience.
Laura Galán as Sara and Rick Holmes as the stranger
Does she have the right to want revenge? Can she hold back? Who is the monster in the end? The bloody climax is a combination of tragedy and horror, as Sara tries to come to terms with her emotions and make a vital decision, while being torn apart by her conflicted feelings.
Having changed schools many times in her youth, director Carlota Pereda had witnessed cases of bullying many times, and realized that it was a theme she wanted to explore: -
“I had just given birth to my daughter and was feeling all the anxieties of bringing a child into the world. Then, while my daughter was having a siesta at her grandmother’s, I used to go to a river ‘pool’ in Villanueva de la Vera [in Extremadura]. I realised that every day, the same [plump] adolescent girl would be there, [at the very hottest time of the day] when nobody was around. I sympathized with that girl, as there were echoes with my own personal history. That is how the idea for Piggy emerged.”
Carlota Pereda said that it took over two years to find an actress that could embody the character of Sara.
“I didn’t want to use a young girl because I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to communicate the serious theme of the film I wanted to make. I [also] didn’t want her to have a horrible experience [on the shoot], because, for her, it would also be like being bullied…. I had the good fortune to see Laura on stage. [In reality, Laura Galán] is a grown woman but I could see that she could play a young person. It has been a pleasure to work with her because she is a confident woman with an amazing talent, who was able to convey her emotions with minimal dialogue.”
In effect, Laura Galán is an exceptional actress, and her abilities have been recognized with a clutch of awards that she has gathered at a whole plethora of festivals, from the Nightmares Film Festival to the Sin City Horror Fest. Now 36 years old, she plays the adolescent Sara with total conviction. Her powerful screen presence elicits great empathy from the audience. So much so that the usherette in the movie house I went to was in floods of tears over the anguish of seeing someone being so badly bullied.
The families of the missing girls search
Galán effortlessly communicates the complex nuances of someone who only seeks to be invisible to avoid the torment that she is subjected to. She lives a life overwhelmed with pain and longing as she watches the other girls of her age having a good time that she cannot share: -
Laura Galán: -
“[The film] is very dark… the director wants the audience to empathize with Sara, and not to only see the violence, because in the end she is also a monster. She is very introverted and people ask why she never talks… her circumstances have made her [who she is] ... The most difficult scenes for me were when Sara breaks down and finds herself [fleeing] on a road scared to death. At an emotional level, it was the scene that most affected me. It hurt me, for Sara, as you can really see her vulnerability- that is what bullying does to you…”
Morena Films have a reputation for taking on challenging productions like 'Piggy' and previously, they have been known for the chilling horror movie ‘La Cueva’(In Darkness we Fall) by Alfredo Montero (2014) and the thriller ‘El Elefante Blanco’ (The White Elephant) 2012, of Pablo Trapero.
Laura Galán in Cerdita 2018- the short
Laura Galán kept the role of Sara although most of the other members of the cast were changed. Rita Noriega re-took her role as cinematographer to full effect. The stunning Extremadura locations with its vast landscapes of sun-dried grass dotted with olive trees adding to the desolate atmosphere of isolation suffered by Sara.
Piggy (2022) premiered in the UK at the Fright Fest in August 2022 and had its World première at the Sundance Film Festival earlier in the year. It won the Critics Selection at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and Best Picture (Horror) at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas and a Special Mention at the London Spanish Film Festival.
Not to be missed.
The film has obtained distribution so watch this space.
CREDITS: Writer/director: Carlota Pereda / Producers: Merry Colomer / DOP: Rita Noriega / Editor: David Pelegrín / Music: Olivier Arson/ Morena Films
CAST:
Sara Laura Galán
Mother Carmen Machi
Father Julian Valcárcel
The Stranger Richard (Rick) Holmes
Maca Claudia Salas
Roci Camille Aguilar
Claudia Irene Ferreiro
