After taking home the prize for Best Horror Feature at this year’s Fantastic Fest, Carlota Pereda’s bloody coming of age thriller is coming to theaters and on demand this Friday. In an interview with FANGORIA Pereda cited Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as one of her inspirations for Piggy (though the homage she shot did not make the final cut). Take a look at the official synopsis below.
During the sweltering summertime of rural Spain, Sara carries an extra load of teenage agony due to the perpetual bullying from her peers. She’s also an outsider at home—her parents and little brother just don’t understand her—so, feelings internalized, she’s often found buried in her headphones, drowning out her surroundings. One day, Sara’s usual solo dip at the local pool is disrupted by the presence of a mysterious stranger in the water and an exceptionally grueling bout of abuse at the hands of three girls. But, in a strange twist of fate, along the way home Sara witnesses her bloodied tormentors being kidnapped in the back of the stranger’s van.
Piggy started out as a short film, Pereda talked about some of the inspiration behind the original story during her Fango interview earlier this year, “I always wanted to make a film about bullying, maybe one about homophobia. But I got the idea for the short by watching this girl at a pool alone. It was the time of siesta, when it is so hot that there is no one outside. It was just me and this girl, and I started wondering why she was there. The short came from that idea. The film comes from the fact that I fell in love with the character, and I fell in love also with her conflict, because from a moral perspective, it was so strong that it just wouldn’t let me go.”
Take a look at an exclusive clip below.
After witnessing an abduction, Sara must decide whether to cooperate with the police and parents’ questioning about the kidnappings, or take her own, unbridled path—while also discovering the power of desire and belonging, and the distinction between revenge and redemption. Written and directed by Carlota Pereda, starring Laura Galán, Richard Holmes, Carmen Machi, Irene Ferreiro, Camille Aguilar, Jose Pastor, Pilar Castro, Fernando Delgado-Hierro, and Claudia Salas. You can catch Piggy in theaters and on demand October 14th.
