Outwardly, Reed leads a typical yuppie life living in a stylish apartment with his wife Mona and their newborn daughter, it afforded by a white collar professional career. But Reed has a need not only to kill, but kill in a specific way, with an ice pick. Rather than his initial target, he instead chooses as his victim an English speaking prostitute. On the pretense of an out of town conference, he leaves home, and instead checks into an upscale hotel, goes through the motion... (Full plot summary below)
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Outwardly, Reed leads a typical yuppie life living in a stylish apartment with his wife Mona and their newborn daughter, it afforded by a white collar professional career. But Reed has a need not only to kill, but kill in a specific way, with an ice pick. Rather than his initial target, he instead chooses as his victim an English speaking prostitute. On the pretense of an out of town conference, he leaves home, and instead checks into an upscale hotel, goes through the motions of the murder to ensure that that part of it goes off without a hitch, and hires his target prostitute through a service, the intended victim named Jackie. What Reed does not anticipate is that Jackie has her own agenda for their time together, which he at times believes is on her knowledge and acceptance of her fate at his hands. Regardless, what ensues is a psychological cat and mouse game between the two, it never clear who is the mouse and who is the cat.
Leave your thoughts about Piercing.
| VarietyAmy NicholsonThe film is expertly crafted with jewel-toned cinematography, terrifically sleazy saxophone music, and performances by Abbott and Wasikowska that take turns seizing command. Still, like Reed’s solo rehearsals, Piercing has the feel of a blueprint, a talented man exercising his technical skills while waiting for a whack at the real deal. |
| The AU ReviewHarris DangPiercing is a sadistically fun time at the movies with its violent proclivities, macabre sense of humour, increasingly insane storytelling chops and of course, director Nicolas Pesce and leads Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska guiding the ship. |
| FILMINK (Australia)Anthony O'Connor...a quirky, sometimes nasty, two-hander. |
| Screen ZealotsLouisa MooreOne of the most visually captivating and wickedly stylized films to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year. |
| Battleship PretensionScott NyeWe're left with more mysteries than resolutions, and while a more mature filmmaker might bind that to a wider desire, it still makes for a damn entertaining 80 minutes. |
| SlashfilmMarisa MirabalPiercing is a dark comedy pleasure spiked with pain. A sick and stylish love letter to giallo films of the '70s, Nicolas Pesce delivers cinematic kink at its finest. |
| Film PulseAdam PattersonSexy, brutal, disturbing, Piercing is not one to be missed. |
| AV ClubA.A. DowdAfter a briefly discombobulating fake-out twist, Piercing can’t seem to figure out how to advance or complicate its sick-joke premise. |
| Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeStars Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska go a long way toward keeping this tricky pic balanced, though Pesce's knowing use of sleazy-Seventies vibe (following the distinctive b&w spareness of The Eyes of My Mother, his only previous feature) creates the perfect world for them to do it in. |
| The AustralianDavid StrattonIt has to be said that the lead performances are impressive and Wasikowska confirms once again that she's a bold and innovative talent. |
