Hen, 2025.
Directed by György Pálfi.
Starring Ioannis Kokiasmenos, Maria Diakopanayotou, Argyris Pandazaras, Antonis Kafetzopoulos.
SYNOPSIS:
A hen escapes from a chicken farm. Finding refuge in a local restaurant she makes connections with other animals, including humans.
Do all animals share an existential drive to survive and a desire to live? And how different are we as humans really, if at all? These deep philosophical questions lie at the heart of Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi’s intriguing, warm-hearted, and philospohically comic piece Hen.
This remarkable movie adopts a literal hen’s-eye view of the world, making it easy for the audience to root for its protagonist from the start. Escaping the horrific conditions of a factory farm is cause enough for celebration—and a sequence that may well prompt meat and dairy eaters to question their dietary choices.
Our clever hero manages to break free, narrowly escaping various perils from both people and predators, including a hungry fox and a loyal farm dog. She eventually winds up at a modest, dilapidated restaurant, where the owner gradually comes to appreciate her vitality. A poignant cycle begins as Hen’s curiosity about life is juxtaposed with the farmer constantly harvesting her freshly laid eggs.
Hen, a black-plumed chicken among a sea of white and golden birds, guides us through a narrative rich with naturalistic beauty. The concerns of the unnamed human family are brilliantly interwoven with Hen’s journey. She almost seems to be studying them, creating a genuine sense that she understands their world.
Ultimately, their arguments, bonds, and hopes for the future mirror her own. Motherhood and the symbolic power of eggs serve as the driving forces behind this wonderful cinematic achievement. In one strange, magical moment, Hen watches a cartoon on television depicting an egg hatching—and it truly feels as though she recognises its meaning
Key to the project’s success is its extraordinary animal training. A total of eight hens shared the starring role of Hen, supported by two roosters, all expertly handled to deliver a seamless, deeply moving performance. The feature is also highly amusing in places, with Hen managing to outwit and outmanoeuvre most obstacles in her way, and there is even a romance woven in a witty fashion.
In the end, Hen brings to mind naturalist cinema like Michelangelo Frammartino’s Le quattro volte (2010), which magnificently captures the interconnected cycles of existence. While Hen does include spoken voices—unlike the entirely dialogue-free Le quattro volte—they are kept to a minimum and mixed precisely as a bird would hear them, keeping the audience firmly rooted in her perspective. Destined to become a classic of species-inclusive cinema, Hen takes us to a new plane of experience where humans are, as Pálfi puts it, a ‘side thread in the story’.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk
