Khook

«Pig» is one of the funniest comedies I have seen in a long time, a very clever mix of satire, fantasy and social commentary, with strong roots in Iranian culture, while never losing sight of the entertainment value and cinematic craftsmanship. Above all, it is a scathing criticism of the world population's dependence on social media, especially the most brazen ones (Instagram, Twitter), to which many persons go to provide and read comments that build their social "reality": it gives them identity, it gives them "the truth", based on false facts, fake news, and contents of few words, few ideas and little depth.

Hasan Kasmai (in a formidable interpretation by Hassan Madjooni, who won the Best Actor award at Sitges) is an A filmmaker who is censored for reasons never exposed, suddenly loses his muse to a new director, and feels that he is losing his distinction in the Iranian film industry, which is more stress than anything. At the same time, Iranian filmmakers are being exterminated by a serial killer who decapitates them and engraves (with an x-act) the word "pig" on their foreheads. As Hasan says, the murdered directors are lame, but when two famous people who are close to him are beheaded, he begins to feel that the killer has not come to murder him because his glory has already passed. And to make things more delirious, an aspiring actress harasses him and uploads images to Instagram, that show features of Hasan that he would have preferred to keep for himself.

What I describe is one thing and what is seen on the screen is another, moments that range from the comic to the sublime, from fantasy to drama, including a ballet of models dressed as red cockroaches for a pesticide commercial that Hasan directs, a police chief who invites him to eat melon while interrogating him, a rock number that Hasan (fan of Black Sabbath and AC/DC) sings accompanied by a band of women in the costumes of the red cockroaches, a sumptuous party, the shooting of an epic film that is a mix between Pasolini and Oliver Stone, Hasan's mother armed with an old rifle and determined to protect her son, plus an influencer who declares the war on Hasan, accusing him of murder.

If you (like me before this) have never seen an Iranian comedy and associate Iranian cinema with Kiarostami, films of children sharing slippers or flying kites, this is a big surprise, and to be fair, a wonderful surprise. Watch it. You will enjoy it and it will also make you think.

While the script is amazing, the mighty acting of Hassan Majouni as the leading role is shining in almost every moment of the movie. And you barely see such good performance from Siamak Ansari (Hope he takes it as a compliment!) If you are familiar with post-revolution Iran's history, you may be able to relate the scenario with some infamous events.

Khook (Pig) is not your typical serial killer thriller-it's a wickedly strange, delightfully absurd commentary on fame, censorship, and the fragile ego of the modern artist. Mani Haghighi crafts a genre-bending fable that dances between dark comedy, psychological drama, and political satire, all against the backdrop of contemporary Iranian cinema.

At the center of the madness is Hasan-a once-renowned filmmaker now banned from making movies-who watches helplessly as someone begins decapitating Iran's top directors... and not including him on the list. The insult is unbearable. The narcissism? Delicious.

Hasan Majuni is phenomenal in the lead role. His performance is both tragic and hilarious-a man so consumed with his own relevance that he can't decide whether he's relieved or offended to be spared by the killer. He's every aging artist caught between rage and resignation, and the film turns his insecurity into a deeply human, often absurdist unraveling.

Haghighi's visual style is bold, even playful, often veering into surrealism. Neon-lit dream sequences collide with sharp social commentary. The satire is biting but never cruel-more melancholic than mocking. It's a film that embraces contradictions: it is deeply Iranian yet universally relatable, deadly serious and completely ridiculous.

Khook doesn't just skewer vanity-it roasts it over a slow flame and asks us why we're all so afraid of being forgotten.

Hey, just want to note my idea here, This movie refers to an important effect, about viral videos, tweeter #, ... in few words, "the people whom are not famous in real life, but they have too many people as viewers at social networks". These people sometimes make troubles, show small events like disasters, it is really very nice idea for screenplay. Vow awesome if comedy... Like few other films which made before, for example "the circle 2017" but it was not comedy... But Dear mani, i hope you success in your life, in writing, in directing. You have very good movies, which i was interested. Here it was not good, in cinema, viewers hardly sit and watch. We laughed. We screamed. But there is something in our mind which says "it is bad". Sorry but it is what i think. We are real people, we need to believe the screenplay, we need to live with the roles, we are viewers, unfortunately we failed. There were very good actors/actresses. But final result is not good. Best wishes...

Normally I don't really mind it when a director imitates the style of another director. If you liked the original, why complain about a copy? However, Mani Haghini's 2018 film "The Pig" is highly derivative of the Cohen Brother's satires, in a way that really makes you appreciate the craft of the brothers as filmmakers. Mani seems to have watched "The Big Lebowski" 40 times, then set out to make a self-indulgent movie about being a film director in Iran. The other filmmaker make Mani seems to have been cribbing notes from is Woody Allen, in that both men often insist on starring and directing themselves in their own movies. Much as with Allen, Mani is a wildly unattractive man, who, when writing himself into his own fictional world has decided that a number of beautiful women are obsessed with him. His former leading lady, and mistress stops an movie scene she's starring in just because he's in the audience watching it be filmed. He even picks up a young, attractive stocker, who follows him around secretly filming him. Mani seems to think he has the sexual charisma of the rock stars that adorn the tacky graphic t-shirts he wears throughout the film. Having said all this, Haghini does have some skill as a visual stylist. It's just unfortunate that for every striking image that Haghini conjures up, they get buried in all the elements of the film that aren't working, most notably the choppy editing. In the end I think this is a film that is worth skipping.