Movie Diary 12/20/2021

Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven, 2021). Good clean wholesome irreverence, with a fair share of satire but also, oddly, empathy. It is set in a 17th-century Italian nunnery. Whatever you think it is, it is never merely that.

Pig (Michael Sarnoski, 2021). A truffle-hunter (Nicolas Cage, splendid) who lives in the woods outside Portland has his pig stolen, and devotes himself to finding the animal, even though it seems the pig has little to do with finding truffles. A good film to see without knowing any more than that, because there are some lovely revelations. Alex Wolff is excellent in support, and if anybody is giving out one-scene Oscars, please notice the performance of David Knell, as a chef in a pretentious restaurant.