The newest film from the filmmaker György Pálfi begins with a chicken farm mass-producing eggs. The opening shot, which would be ashamed to have ruined, immediately echoes the full ideas that will eventually be displayed over the next 90+ minutes. Not long after this spellbinding opening, the protagonist of the story, your everyday hen, is introduced to us, the audience. An immediate bond of trust was thus formed between me and Pálfi while viewing.

Pálfi’s ‘Hen’ follows a Hen’s journey of free will, and her right to motherhood amidst human interference and anything that could pose a threat to a hen. Differing itself from the other animal pov imitation films–EO, Flow, and Good Boy (2025) immediately come to mind, with Pálfi’s commitment to his own mode of storytelling.

I adored the first act of this movie. Pálfi and co-screenwriter Ruttkay Zsófia, in collaboration with the editor Lehmhényi Réka, are in total control of the story structure. I imagine that with any film working with the number of animals used in this film, there is a level of unpredictability and likely multiple takes. My biggest compliment is that it works very well on a thematic level. Problems with the central focus arise for me in the third act of the film, the writing of the primary human characters begins to feel more hammed up as the story expands, leading up to the film’s climax. However, those last few minutes resonate deeply, and for my complaints of the third act, the pay-off and subtle call-back feel earned.

Amongst the best animal performances I have ever seen put to screen. Feri, Anett, and Nora, the names of the Hen you follow, are stellar in the film. They’re so well-trained, my jaw dropped in many scenes. I rarely question from a movie, how was this accomplished, but György had me think about this in a third of the scenes. Of the human actors, Ioannis Kokiasmenos was a clear standout for me. The quality of performances ranges for the rest of the ensemble, but it works for the crucial scenes.

It’s all tied together by DP Giorgos Karvelas. I found the way he captured the world to be working in hand with the narrative, with a myriad of shots used throughout. He captures a large number of animal stunts as well. Which only brought me back to thinking about the strength the narrative relies on, for the stunts to feel so naturally built in.

What ‘Hen’ delivers to the audience in the end is more than what I was expecting. In addition to the fun ride of following a Hen, we see so much heart. There are pitfalls in the story once the conceit wears off, but it ends on a strong note, marking another great directorial effort from Pálfi and his collaborators.

4 stars

https://fromthefourthrow.com/2025/09/08/tiff-50-henry-review-experiencing-the-free-will-of-a-hen/