Dir: György Pálfi | Docudrama 96’. 2025
“Murder most fowl”
Weird but wonderful to watch this cocky little Hungarian film from György Pálfi sets off by taking us artfully through the life of a commercially raised hen – possibly the most ill-treated of all farm animals – while also providing a colourful snapshot of the Greek countryside where human misery seems to echo the ghastly fate of battery hens.
After a lurid close-up of the mother hen giving birth we watch the fluffy yellow chicks tumble dozily into the world where they feed from a central water drip until fully fledged before being caged and driven to slaughter.
All but one, Anett, whose tortoiseshell plumes and livid scarlet comb catch the eye of the van driver who fancies making a home-cooked ‘pot au feu’. But the hen has other plans for its future. Escaping from the lorry at the petrol station the poor hen finds itself alone for the first time ever. But not for long – a hungry fox catches sight of the poor pullet and sets off in hot pursuit across motorways until a fast car seals its fate.
Less lyrical but along similar lines as Besson’s Au Hassard Balthazar the plucky animal survives a series of trials and tribulations always escaping by the skin of its teeth in a charmingly upbeat animal coming-of-age roadie that leavens Pálfi‘s deftly interweaved and less interesting parallel parable that morphs into a thriller involving crime and human trafficking.
Hen is cheeky and wickedly amusing while avoiding sentimentality or sensationalism. We can’t help rooting for this female rooster that seems to have more lives than a farmyard cat, and is eminently more sensible and stoical that its human counterparts.
Performances across the coop are finger-licking good — played by eight real-life Hungarian chickens Anett (in the lead) Eszti, Szandi, Feri, Enci, Eti, Enikő, Nóra. @MeredithTaylor
EUROPEAN PREMIER | SAN SEBASTIÁN FILM FESTIVAL 2025 | Zabaltegi Tabakalera Section