Pig(2021)

Submitted by Evan B

Pooper:
Rob learns that his pig was killed during the kidnapping. Despite the traumatic experience, Rob seems to have finally come to terms with his grief for both his dead wife and pig.

Long Ending:
A man named Rob (Nicolas Cage) lives in the forests outside of Portland with his truffle hunting pig as his only companion. Rob is removed from the outside world, with his only human contact being a young man named Amir (Alex Wolff) who buys the truffles from him and sells them in Portland. The truffles are of such high quality that Amir has become wealthy out of the relationship. One night, two people break into Rob’s cottage, knock him out, and steal his pig.

Rob was able to memorize the car of his assailants and, with Amir’s help, they track the couple down. The couple reveal that they were simply hired to abduct the pig for someone working in Portland, but they do not know the name of the person who hired them. Reluctantly, Rob has Amir take him to the city and reveals he used to live there. When they arrive, various professionals in the restaurant industry recognize Rob. Amir learns that Rob was once the most influential chef in Portland and further, that Rob remembers every meal he cooked, customer he served, and person he worked with.

Amir asks Rob what happened to him and Rob essentially says that he realized nothing in life matters (claiming that in a few hundred years, Portland will sink into the ocean and all the people who lived here will be forgotten). Amir, now knowing Rob’s history, reveals that his dad Darius (Adam Arkin) is the kingmaker of the Portland restaurant scene – owning or controlling most of the top end restaurants. He says that their family life was an unhappy one, but that a meal his parents ate at one of Rob’s restaurants was so good that it gave Amir’s family one of their only happy memories. Now Darius is cold and distant (refusing to help Amir in his endeavors to become a successful businessman) and Amir’s mother is terminally ill and comatose. Meanwhile, we learn that Rob left Portland after his wife died and Rob is still grieving over her loss these years later. Rob briefly takes time to visit his estranged daughter, who has become a successful baker.

Ultimately, Rob learns that Darius is the one who paid to abduct the pig. Rob furiously confronts Darius and demands the pig’s return. Darius insults Amir, refuses to return the pig, and threatens to have Rob assaulted if he doesn’t back down. Rob then tries a different approach and recreates the meal that he served Darius and his family that resulted in their one happy memory. Darius reluctantly eats the meal and soon breaks down crying at the memories it evokes. A repentant Darius tells Rob that he can’t return the pig because the pig died during the abduction. Rob collapses and weeps.

Amir drives Rob home, and Rob gives Amir the respect he’s always been looking for. They have a conversation where Rob admits that he never fully accepted his loss (with it being unclear whether he’s referring to his pig, wife, or both). When Rob goes back to his cottage, he is finally able to listen to a recording left to him by his deceased wife. The film ends with Rob looking skyward as the film fades to black.