Hungarian director György Pálfi just made a survival film starring a real chicken, and it genuinely works. “Hen” follows a black-brown hen, played by around eight actual poultry actors with zero CGI, as she escapes a Greek battery farm, dodges a hungry trucker, and outruns a very real, very well-trained fox across a busy road. Yes, the chicken crosses the road. Pálfi pulls it off because he never forces the hen to act human. She is equal parts sharp survivalist and total airhead, which makes her weirdly compelling to watch.
Critics are comparing “Hen” to Andrea Arnold’s “Cow” and Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO,” but this one lands lighter and funnier, even while weaving in a dark human trafficking subplot. Pálfi, known for surrealist Hungarian cinema like “Taxidermia” and “Hukkle,” somehow made his most accessible film yet.
No animals were harmed, and somehow your feelings still are.
Source: Original Article
