Netflix's Best New Movie Is An Unlikely Indie With 97% On Rotten Tomatoes

Forbes

a day ago

Nicolas Cage stars in the 2021 film 'Pig.'
On paper, the premise for Pig sounds like the setup for a Nicolas Cage punchline: a loner of a man ventures out into the woods to rescue his stolen truffle pig. But it's not a self-aware John Wick-esque genre riff played for laughs, nor is it an over-the-top revenge thriller backed by a big budget. No, this quietly profound film is something much more; it's a meditation on grief and memory that uses its bizarre premise not for shock or irony, but for tenderness. Oh, and it also happens to be one of the best-reviewed movies of the 21st century. And it was added to Netflix this morning, accompanying what is already a stellar lineup of movies for the month of May.
No, Pig is not at all what you'd expect. But perhaps more surprising than the film's shocking sophistication is the fact that more people haven't seen it, that the movie isn't much more talked about. Because very few films have achieved such great success on Rotten Tomatoes: a 97% score from 272 reviews—a feat almost unheard of for any modern film, let alone a subdued indie about a truffle-hunting recluse and his stolen pig. That amount of positive reviews broaches nearly unmatched territory, recalling what many consider to be the highest-rated movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes, Mad Max: Fury Road, which also scored 97% from 439 reviews. Not many films remain in the high-90s when approaching 300 reviews, which begs the question: shouldn't we all be watching and talking about this movie?
Despite its seemingly absurd premise, Pig from director Michael Sarnoski (who also directed A Quiet Place: Day One) is anything but conventional. The film's central star, the often bug-eyed Bela Lugosi super-fan Nicolas Cage, plays Rob, a former fine-dining chef who abandons his past and decides to live deep in the Oregon wilderness with his pig, foraging truffles and avoiding any and all contact with human beings. After a violent break-in that results in his pig being stolen, Rob heads back to Portland not to seek vengeance, but to search for his lost friend—quietly, painfully, and without compromise. What follows is an incredibly emotional journey that requires some heavy acting from Mr. Cage.
Critics didn't just like Pig—they were floored by it. Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film a raving four-star review, calling it 'beguiling' and 'confounding,' the kind of movie that dares to defy genre expectations. Though it teases a gritty revenge plot, the film instead unfolds like a '70s-style picaresque character study. 'Its commitment to its own oddball vision is what makes it linger in the mind,' Seitz writes. 'It's attentive to regret and failure in ways that American films tend to avoid.'
In Variety, Michael Nordine praised Cage's 'best performance in years," marveling at the film's ability to 'feel both out there and grounded, often at the same time.' He notes how Cage's portrayal of Rob brings a wounded sincerity to even the film's most bizarre moments, like underground fight clubs for restaurant workers or chapter titles named after recipes. Cage, he writes, finds something 'close to the profound in it all.'
Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter highlights Pig's unorthodox emotional prowess, describing it as 'a recipe that takes chances, even if not every ingredient works.' She praises the unlikely chemistry between Cage and Alex Wolff, who plays Amir, a snarky young truffle dealer reluctantly drawn into Rob's mission. Their mismatched dynamic anchors the story, with Linden pointing out how Wolff subtly reveals the self-doubt beneath Amir's ambition. 'Through it all,' she writes, 'Cage plays the enigmatic central character at the perfect simmering temperature, and without a shred of ham.'
Pig takes its time, trades catharsis for contemplation, rarely delivers what you expect—and that's exactly why it has resonated so deeply with audiences and critics alike. It's a film about food, yes, but also about identity, about loss, about what remains when everything else is stripped away. Rob doesn't just want his pig back; he wants to remember who he was when he still cared about something bigger than himself.
At 92 minutes, Pig wastes absolutely nothing—not a word, not a look, not a moment. It's a lean, haunting film that sneaks up on you and stays there. And with a Rotten Tomatoes score this high, we can officially deem them gem more than a cult classic—it's a critical titan. And it's now streaming on Netflix. So be sure you don't miss it if you're a subscriber.