Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Piercing Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 28, 2019

A few years ago, writer/director Nicolas Pesce made his filmmaking debut with “The Eyes of My Mother,” which displayed the helmer’s command of style and mood, along with his fascination with prolonged violent encounters. Instead of trying something different for his follow-up, Pesce returns to the land of grime and bloody with “Piercing,” attempting to adapt a 2008 novel by Ryu Murakami. Once again, Pesce doesn’t take it easy on his audience, delivering a picture that savors suffering and observes madness as its leaks out of the characters, often at the worst possible moments. “Piercing” boasts fine technical credits, but the feature’s quest for atmosphere is often more interesting than the actual story unfolding in slow- motion, finding Pesce too wrapped up in the particulars of Murakami’s world, keeping the viewing experience more about shiny surfaces and gaping wounds than macabre drama.

Reed (Christopher Abbott) is trapped in Hell. He’s a family man, with Mona (Laia Costa), his wife, trying to support her struggling spouse while they care for their colicky baby. Reed’s lust to murder has recently focused on the new addition in the house, with hopes to channel that energy into the killing of a prostitute, with plans to lure a working girl comfortable with S&M practices into a hotel room before the slaughter begins. Reed has the entire evening planned out, playing careful attention to fingerprints and cleanliness, trying to maintain the courage to carry out his deepest desire. However, complications arrive when his choice of partner suffers a lengthy delay, forcing Reed to accept the next best thing, soon welcoming Jackie (Mia Wasikowska) into his life. About to commit to an unthinkable plan, Reed quickly realizes his target is equally demented, commencing a lengthy evening of submission and pain that pleases both parties.

“Piercing” represents Pesce’s tribute to Italian cinema of the 1970s and ‘80s. More specifically, he’s aiming for a Dario Argento vibe to the work, embracing strange but hypnotic stylistics, emphasizing colors and unreality to the urban journey for the characters (use of miniatures creates the big city), while scoring selections from “Deep Red” and “Tenebre” are employed to give the feature a little retro oil to keep the viewing experience in working order. Mixed in are flashes of VHS entertainment and Grindhouse-y introductions, with Pesce offering a smorgasbord of cinematic delights to hold attention on a tale that largely takes place in two rooms with two characters. The broadness of technique is enticing, and Pesce clearly adores his inspirations, striving to make a sick and twisted endeavor look good. He succeeds with sharp technical achievements, making “Piercing” something to see, but it’s not always something worth paying attention to.

“Piercing” doesn’t hide its darkness. The picture opens with the image of Reed pointing an ice pick at his baby, contemplating his future as a murderer with a specialty in the offing of family members. Such an introduction is horrific, possibly a deal-breaker for some viewers, but it does set the tone of madness for the movie, as Reed is consumed by evil thoughts, unable to function normally with a backup of murderous intent clogging his system. His plan is to kill a hooker, and one who’s willing to be tied up first, scratching a few S&M itches for Reed, but also making the process easier. Early scenes showcase the fiend in his hotel room practicing his moves while Pesce lays in vividly wet sound effects, completing a run- through of horrors to come once Reed meets his victim. Of course, Reed ends up with Jackie, and she has her own troubles, but tries to play into her customer’s tentative fantasies, only to display her own fondness for self-mutilation, exposing a comfort with insanity that bests Reed and his tinkering with malevolence.

Piercing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation delivers an engaging look at the sinister style of "Piercing." The movie leads with colors, and palette remains appropriate here, leading with deep reds (bloodshed is common) and bright yellows, giving strange encounters some heft. Clothing also carries exciting hues, along with street signage and building flybys. Detail is satisfactory, with exposed skin a common sight, as close-ups and opens wounds are popular here. Facial surfaces are textured, as are costumes, which retain their fibrous construction. Hotel interiors are also sharply defined, opening decoration for observation. Delineation isn't problematic, maintaining frame information.

Piercing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sound is a key component of "Piercing," perhaps valued more than visuals at times, often communicating the inner horrors found in the characters. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix provides appealing immersion for the feature, as dialogue exchanges are crisply examined, helping immensely as the actors deliver slight accents and work very quietly at times. Music is lively and clear, maintaining scoring cues and tunes from other movies with distinct synth and thumpy beats with satisfactory low-end engagement. Surrounds open up to examine atmospherics, managing room tone and movement, and split- screen work introduces some enjoyable moments of separation. Sound effects are defined to satisfaction, surveying all sorts of moistness and bodily harm.

Piercing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this disc.

Piercing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What follows for the pair reaches spoiler territory, but it's safe to report that a level of domesticity is found between Reed and Jackie, with the prostitute using her experience to lure her client into an awakening he's not prepared for. Much of "Piercing" steps away from any sort of recognizable reality, but even for a 75-minute-long movie, Pesce doesn't always know how to fill the run time, going off on abstract tangents and hallucinatory tours that seem to serve the helmer more than the viewer. Nothing builds to a point of explosion in "Piercing," despite hints of such catharsis early in the feature. It grows winded and repetitive, pawing at abyssal psychological issues worth investigating, with Pesce downplaying grit to make a surface appreciation for derangement and, at times, filmmaking itself.