Pig Ending Explained

The ending of the 2021 Nicolas Cage movie Pig explained its core objective of subverting viewers’ expectations by rejecting any violent conflict and, consequently, a conventional climax. The story of Pig could have gone down the John Wick path as Rob (Cage), a retired chef living in the depths of the Oregon forest, sets out to the city in search of his beloved companion — a pig, stolen by violent delinquents. However, instead of finishing on a violent crescendo, Pig offers a relevant anti-revenge message and comes full circle by the end as Rob accepts his grief without retaliating.

In the end, Rob doesn’t get his pig back, and his enemies get away, but that’s irrelevant when compared to Pig‘s real purpose: learning to make peace with the past. Pig was one of the best movies of 2021, although it requires patience from the audience. After Rob’s pig is stolen, the film takes a whole different narrative course but doesn’t go through any tonal shift whatsoever; no drastic changes happen on the screen, but if viewers look closer, the Pig ending explains how Rob’s psyche has been forever altered, and that he’s opted to choose a path of healing.

What Happens In Pig’s Ending?

Rob Finds Peace Without Bloodshed At The End Of Pig

By the time viewers get to the Pig ending, many characters have been introduced, but only three linger at the center of the story’s climax: Rob, Amir, and Amir’s dad, Darius. After a thorough investigation and insightful conversations with figures from his past, Rob discovers that Darius is behind his pig’s theft. Darius offers the retired chef a reasonable amount of money in exchange for the animal, insisting that if Rob doesn’t drop pursuit, he will kill the pig.

Some viewers may be unsatisfied with the bittersweet ending of Pig. However, it makes sense: it turns out that Darius is bluffing since the delinquents he hired to steal the pig mishandled the animal, thus she is already dead. Rob reveals he never needed the pig to hunt truffles — he wants the pig back because she’s the only thing that matters to him.

After Rob learns the truth about his pig’s fate during the dinner he prepared for Darius, he returns to his secluded cabin devastated, but something seems to have changed in him. He finally washes the bloody face he previously refused to clean, and plays his deceased wife’s tape without feeling the urge to turn it off.

Rob’s Dinner Explained

Rob Used Food And Memories To Manipulate Darius And Amir

Pig‘s many positive reviews can be explained by its nuanced set of characters. To understand the meaning of Rob’s dinner at the end of the film, it’s important to first understand the drama surrounding Amir and his family. At the beginning of the film, Amir opens up to Rob about his parents’ unhappy marriage and how the dinner they had at Rob’s restaurant was their happiest moment together before Amir’s mother died by suicide.

However, it’s later revealed that Amir’s mother is alive and comatose in a care facility. To get further information about his pig, Rob decides to serve Darius the same dish and beverage he prepared for Darius and his wife years ago. As expected, this reopens old wounds from the past and hits Darius emotionally, causing him to confess the truth about what happened to Rob’s pig.

The Real Meaning Of Robin’s Pig

For Rob, Pig Was Never Really About The Pig

Part of the reason why Pig works is that the story’s emotional appeal relies heavily on its attention to detail. From the first minutes of the anti-revenge movie, viewers see how the pig is more to Rob than just an asset to hunting truffles. The two share meals together, sleep next to each other and go for walks every day. Rob could fill the void of his uneventful routine with another companion, but he didn’t see the animal as a way to fight loneliness. The pig was a friend, he loved her, and they cared for each other.

Pig
‘s harrowing conclusion shows that Rob never came to terms with his wife’s death and now that his pig is gone…

For this reason, he feels the urge to fight to get her back. Most importantly, losing his beloved pig brings up painful memories about Rob’s wife, and his obsessive search reflects the urgency of avoiding confrontation with the past. Pig‘s harrowing conclusion shows that Rob never came to terms with his wife’s death and now that his pig is gone, he’s left with no other choice but to learn what it means to finally let someone go.

What’s The Meaning Of Rob’s Arc?

Pig Is Rob’s Journey To Learning That Pain Is No Reason To Try And Forget The Past

Rob’s actions are difficult to interpret for the majority of the film, and Cage nails the role with solemn expressions that can say a lot without a single word. He embodies the movie’s anti-revenge nature through the character’s passive attitude toward the enemies he made along the way. Rob spends the whole movie looking defeated, but he doesn’t let go of his objectives.

Pig could have taken the easy path by structuring Rob’s arc as a typical revenge story. Rob doesn’t want anything to do with the people who took his pig; his only wish is to have her back. It’s almost as if Rob’s life comes to a halt after they take his pig, as he leaves the comfort of his house without looking back, never changes his clothes or washes his face, and doesn’t resort to any pleasantries. As he encounters several faces from his past on his journey, they don’t mean a thing to him, whether they treat him badly or not.

Even after Rob discovers that his pig was mishandled and killed, he doesn’t take it out on Darius, who also must fight his own battles. Instead, Rob faces the situation as the moment he finally learns that what cannot be replaced must not be forgotten or ignored, because memories are precious and the only thing that remains.

What Happens To Rob In The End?

Rob Finds A New Form Of Peace At The End Of Pig

Cage delivers one of the best performances of his career in Pig’s final moments by mixing sorrow and endurance in a single solemn look. Rob’s future doesn’t rely on any redemption but rather the acceptance of life as it is. Before the events of the movie, his life was a perpetual postponement of mourning; he preferred to ignore the bruises of grief than to ever face his demons and move on.

He now knows he cannot replace the things he once loved and lost, so Rob likely won’t look for another pig

Before he returns home, Rob decides to resume his partnership with Amir, which implies he will continue truffle hunting in the woods, this time using the trees as guidance. He now knows he cannot replace the things he once loved and lost, so Rob likely won’t look for another pig. The same goes for his wife: he can finally listen to her tapes without remorse, feeling her presence all around him.

How The Pig Ending Was Received

Quentin Tarantino Praised The Movie’s Creative Ending

Pig earned Nicolas Cage some of the best reviews he had received in years, helping kickstart his Hollywood comeback. Along with his performance, the movie was lauded for its unpredictable and emotionally satisfying journey that concluded with its perfect ending. Many critics pointed out that the movie subverts expectations by offering a setup that seems to be a bargain bin John Wick ripoff only to deliver something with a genuine message and a lot of heart. Ty Burr of the Boston Globe remarked about where the film ends:

“Pig” is a thoughtful, well-made movie for an audience primed for junk: It’s pearls before swine.

Audiences also praised the ending for bringing the story to a conclusion that was filled with emotion. While there is some debate over where Rob is in the end in terms of his grief, many fans, like Redditor MainRadiance, were hit with the heartbreak, sorrow, and human emotions of the final moments of the movie:

I felt really emotional from the cooking scene until the end. I was crying and holding back my sobs in the theatre but when they ‘revealed’ it, I couldn’t hold back any longer. This movie broke my heart.

Acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino shared his love of Pig recently, calling it one of the best movies of the last five years. He also praised the ending for the inventive way it takes the setup and flips it on its head:

[T]he movie sets it up like all the revenge-o-matics Nic Cage seems to have done in the last five years…this sets itself up to be that only to decidedly not go down that road in the most creative way possible.