Der Film

About to go on a business trip, Redd kisses his wife and son goodbye, then leaves. Except he is not really going to travel. He goes to the hotel room he had booked in order to fulfil desires he has been restraining since childhood and prepares to murder the prostitute he has hired with the tools in his luggage. At least, that’s the plan, because his intricate scheme is going to take a very unexpected turn. Piercing is a Murakami Ryu short story adaptation conceived as a stirring homage to 1970s Italian cinema. Making good use of split screens and giallo-inspired music, Nicolas Pesce anchors his surrealistic and sadomasochistic world within a referential frame that makes it a pure cinephile pleasure. The strange relationship that develops between the main characters is both fascinating and unsettling. It questions customs and redefines the game of cat and mouse. How could we complain?