This
should be the last shade of grey you will ever need to see in the movies. To
get rid of his murderous impulses, a new father plans to do a quickie murder
out of town, but God and his intended victim laugh at his meticulous planning
in Nicolas Pesce’s Piercing, which
screens as a selection of this year’s Fantastic Fest.
Reed
has been successfully fighting the urge to stab his newborn infant with an
icepick, so good for him for being so responsible. Logically, he decides to get
it all out of his system by murdering a S&M prostitute in an upscale but still
seedy what-happens-here-stays-here hotel. His wife and baby seem to approve of
this scheme, at least according to his highly suspect perception. As he awaits
her arrival, Reed his envisioned crime in obsessive detail. However, the plan
starts to when the unhinged Jackie is sent as a sub for the sub.
Technically,
Jackie is still a submissive, but her thing seems to be deliberately riling up
clients, so they will hurt her. She could very well be more than Reed can
handle. She might also be unto him. If so, it is because it takes one to know
one.
Piercing has some merit, but
even though it is based on a Ryû Murakami novel, the whole premise of the
loving father who is really a twisted psychopath feels really old hat by now.
The assorted reversals are well played by Mia Wasikowska, but they are as predictable
as the rhythm of metronome. Christopher Abbot also has such a weak presence as
Reed, it is hard to believe he could overcome an infant with an icepick, let
alone a full grown, potentially psychotic woman.
The
scale model exterior shots and giallo homage flourishes are cool, but the film
never surprises us. Instead, it leaves wondering was it really worth going
through so much, just to reach this point? Still, it completely alters what
mostly of us think of Wasikowska. Her performance is so electrically fierce, it
nearly redeems the entire picture.
