Film

Piercing

Name: Piercing
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2019
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa, Maria Dizzia, Marin Ireland

A twisted psychological thriller about a businessman who books a hotel room with murderous intent, only to meet his match in an unpredictable sex worker. Piercing is a stylish, perverse cat-and-mouse game that swings between darkly comic and genuinely unsettling. It's for viewers drawn to transgressive cinema who don't need their antagonists redeemed.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a slow-burn chamber piece where a polished, controlled surface keeps cracking, and you like stylised dark humour that turns uneasy at the edges.

Skip it if you want the menace to be clear and the stakes steady, since it keeps shifting its footing and leans on cruelty for its shocks.

What it asks of you: Eighty-odd minutes, mostly confined to one hotel room, with long quiet stretches that reward patience and little relief between the jolts.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

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