Aigars Vilims, in background, and Kevin Janssens in Squeal (Good Deed Entertainment/Cranked Up)

In the dark comedy Squeal (also known as Samuel’s Travels, a much better title), a young man and foreigner, the aforementioned Samuel (Kevin Janssens), travels in an unnamed European country looking to find the find the father he never knew, and, while distracted, hits a piglet with his car. Ever the good Samaritan, he manages through happenstance to bring the piglet back to its owner, Kirke (Laura Silina).

This act of kindness manages to get him chained naked to the wall in a pigsty with the expectation that he will take care of the pigs. Samuel is, naturally, absolutely mortified and terrified. Since Kirke is the only one in her family who speaks some English, he doesn’t understand the heated conversation between her and her elderly father. Kirke wants a man and believes the spirit of her mother has delivered one to her. Her father, though, thinks that he needs an extra hand at his farm as all the young, capable men have all left the village and moved to the city where it is more economically feasible to survive.

This setup is delivered with a whimsical sheen. The opening credits are written in classy cursive, the score consists of sprightly classical pieces (Handel, Rameau), and the male narrator has a twinkle in his voice. So, it’s essentially sprightly torture porn. As the movie goes on, and Samuel receives rewards for jobs well done, such as a longer chain so he can occasionally go outside, he experiences a sort of Stockholm syndrome and slowly forgets his previous life. And as we remember our Greek myth, we realize that Kirke is very deliberately named.

We don’t get much backstory on Samuel, but it is implied that there doesn’t seem much for him to go back to. He is a successful chef with a nice car, but he never talks about a girlfriend or family, except for the father he is looking for. More importantly, there is no subplot or expectation of anyone searching for him. In the beginning, pre-captivity, he expresses admiration for Kirke’s simple life. At least later, here, he serves a purpose and someone who seemingly loves him, even if the way Kirke shows it amounts to a felony.

How much you enjoy Squeal really depends on your tolerance for the above-mentioned torture porn (though that really only encompasses a third of the story) and cracked fairy tales. Essentially, the film feels like a mid-tier, less misogynistic Lars von Trier, which isn’t a knock against it. It just may not be for everyone’s taste. Janssens (The Ardennes) is solid as Samuel, and has to spend a good portion of the running time chained by the neck and nude. To co-writer/director Aik Karapetian’s credit, the family that imprisons Samuel becomes humanized as well, not to the extent that they are let off the hook by the film, but certainly viewers understand the desperation of their actions.

Eventually Samuel, maybe, hallucinates and hears the rescued pig talking. Adding to the movie’s magic realism is that the townspeople take the whole situation in stride. Sure, one son of a local farmer, who has long been eying Kirke, is jealous of the good-looking Samuel, but mostly everyone sees Samuel as an animal. Squeal has a lot to say about freedom and how easily humanity compensates and acquiesces when it is taken away from them. It relays this message without becoming remotely preachy.

An odd, unique, and worthwhile film.