HEN - MIFF 2026

 

As per the MIFF guide: “A poultry transport driver steals a factory-farmed hen, planning to put her in a tasty soup. When he stops his truck at a servo, she escapes, evading a hungry fox and braving a busy highway before getting cooped up in a run-down seaside restaurant. All she wants is to find a safe nest to brood her own chicks – but as she repeatedly strives to find out what becomes of her eggs, she encounters a world in which hens aren’t the only creatures to be exploited.”

So it is early Monday morning, and I am seated on a train heading into the city to see my only MIFF film of the day, and I am more than a little grumpy. I found myself questioning my life choices, but particularly why I decided to see an early morning session of a film that is about a stupid chicken. Whilst I thought the trailer was cute and amusing when they played it at the MIFF launch back in July, but since than I had convinced myself that surely the filmmakers couldn't sustain the fun for a whole feature length movie, as it is essentially a one joke story. The reason I did end up booking a ticket for “Hen” was only due to the fact that it was Hungarian director, György Pálfi's brand new film and he has a habit of making films that a more than a little unusual, and different from the norm. Still, when I sat down in my seat, I was sure that my time could have been better spent elsewhere.

As I'm sure you all expected from such an intro, yes, I ended up absolutely loving “Hen”; it is such a clever film that has been put together so well that you find yourself actually caring about the plight of a mischievous chicken. “Hen” turned out to be unexpectedly brilliant, and so unique, as we see the world from the eyes of a very curious hen. The film begins with our little black hen's birth and ends with her becoming a mother of her own, (complete with her own odd black chick too) so I guess you could say that it is kind of a coming of age tale. But it is not only that; it is also an adventure film, a comedy, a romance, as well as a dramatic thriller; “Hen” has everything for everyone. After the black hen escapes from the battery farm where she was born and breed, suddenly her eyes and world are expanded that much more, as she finds herself mixed up in a whole number of ridiculous and dangerous situations. She has to escape a fox (which finally answers the question “why did the chicken cross the road?”), dodges a terrifying bird of prey, survives a playful dog and a burning car (that may have been deliberately lit), finds herself caught up in a protest against the police, gets mixed up with human traffickers, falls in love (lust?) with a very sexy rooster, and eventually settles down and becomes a mother.........amongst other things. Along with the hen's story, we get the parallel story of a group of traffickers, led by the old man who has taken the hen in (she lives in his pen) and who will do anything to get out of the criminal activity he has found himself in so late in his life.

I would love to know how long it took to shoot this film because it is so complex, even though the tale being told is very simple. “Hen” is filled with many intricate camera moves, that include so many moving parts within the frame, from the animal actors to the humans, to the shot itself, that I could only imagine that it took forever to get each shot where everything finally worked in unison. The widescreen cinematography from Giorgos Karvelas is outstanding in highlighting the beautiful Greek Island landscapes and particularly in capturing our hen at the perfect angle so that it looks like she is actively doing what the story needs her to do. Again, how long would have this taken to shoot, because each shot comes across as totally spot on. I think the biggest strength of “Hen” though has got to be Réka Lemhényi's editing. This is not because it is flashy or draws attention to itself, because it doesn't, but through her edits you fully believe that this hen(s) is giving a real performance. You can actually feel emotions from it, just from a little twitch of the head, or the way it scratches its claw on the ground. Lemhényi has clearly had to find all of these little moments and put them all together to create a magnificent whole, and she does so brilliantly. The use of music in “Hen” is also another massive tick, as it is regularly used to help amplify the atmosphere of the scene, but the love songs are absolutely hilarious! I can't forget to praise the ringleader of this show also, as György Pálfi has directed this film with so much life and energy, giving it a playfulness that makes it so easy to watch, while at the same time tackling some tough material in the process. I am in awe of what he has been able to do here, because he makes it look so simple, but believe me, this would have been a very complex film to make.

One of the key marketing claims about “Hen” is that there was no CGI or animatronics used in the making of the film. While for the most part I truly believe this, I do question the scene involving the fox, as to my eyes something felt a little off about him to me, which you find your mind doing when it registers something unreal on the screen. I admit that I could be totally wrong on my assumption with the fox and whether or not it was real, but my gut feel was that in some of the shots it was not. As to the star of the film herself, it took eight “Hungarian” chickens to portray the titular hen and I am not going to lie, if I didn't already know that multiple hens were used, I would have assumed it was the one, because it is so seamless. The hens have so much to do in this film, as Pálfi has a number of set-pieces sprinkled throughout the film. One of my favourites is when our hen has to break back into her pen, after becoming so proficient of escaping from it, when “Big Sexy” (the hot rooster) enters the scene. There are also a number of funny moments when, after she has escaped her pen, she sees just what happens to her eggs once they are taken from her, when she sees the old man making an omelette. To compliment the images of the hen's performance, Pálfi will, from time to time also, switch to the hen's point of view shot, which works wonderfully well in making everything so believable.

The one area where the film does fall down though is in the human performances sadly. With the exception of the old man, who is played by Yannis Kokiasmenos and is utterly wonderful, the rest of the cast (which is limited) give very broad performances that lack any range of emotion. I was seriously disappointed in this, particularly because the characters that these people are playing are so ugly (not their physical features, but what they do in life to make money), so they come across as caricatures.

Overall though, “Hen” turned out to be a wonderful surprise. I actually thought that following a hen around for ninety plus minutes, that the film would drag, but it absolutely flew by which is a sign of a great movie. Never did I think that I would be able to care about the plight of a little black hen as much as I did here, and that is all thanks to director György Pálfi and his wonderful team, who have put “Hen” together in such a perfect way that it is not only believable, but also immensely moving and more than a little funny. “Hen” is a one-of-a-kind gem!

4 Stars.

 

 

VICTORIAN PSYCHO - MIFF 2026

 

As per the MIFF guide: “In 1858, Winifred Notty arrives on the Gothic doorstep of Ensor House, a mansion on the Yorkshire moors. Wealthy John and Emily Pounds hire the well-spoken but definitely odd woman as a governess for their young son and daughter. Courtesy of an inner demon she calls “Fred”, the impulsive carnage that’s always followed in Winifred’s wake doesn’t take long to pop up gruesomely again. Given the Poundses’ own depraved lineage, has Winifred finally found her people? But, then again, she is a very unreliable narrator …”

I am a massive fan of actress Maika Monroe and am repeatedly puzzled as to why she is not a huge star, or at least bigger than she currently is. She definitely has the talent and certainly has the looks, so I assume it is either because she, herself, doesn't want the lifestyle that comes with Hollywood fame or she has a crap manager who cannot get her into these bigger, more visible films. However outside of the mainstream fare, Monroe has made a name for herself with independent and horror hits. As such, I try to see most of the stuff Monroe makes and initially when the film was announced, I was very excited by the potential of “Victorian Psycho”. It seemed like it was going to be something completely different for Monroe, a film unlike any she had tackled previously. However when the first trailer for the film finally hit, my heart and anticipation sunk totally. It looked absolutely terrible. Actually, worse than that, it looked like a total disaster, like “worst film of the year” type bad! I hated the overly flashy look to it all and even Maika herself seemed totally wrong, hamming it up like I had never seen from her before. “Victorian Psycho” ended up playing at this year's MIFF, in their “Night Shift” sidebar (dedicated to films with a horror or sci-fi bent), so I decided to still check it out, even though I was convinced that I was going to hate it.

Well how is this for a plot twist, ladies and gentlemen, I ended up absolutely loving “Victorian Psycho”. Sure, the film is not perfect and has a few problems, but these are easily overlooked due to how much fun “Victorian Psycho” is as a whole. It was an absolute blast from start to finish, and another reason why you should never judge a movie by its trailer. One thing that did turn out to be true was that this is unlike any other film Maika Monroe has made before, it is absolutely out there, but it succeeds mainly due to the full investment of Monroe to both the madness of her character, Winifred, and the film as a whole. She totally understands the tone of the film and adjusts her performance to suitably fit this tone, which is slightly heightened, but then Winifred is totally mad from the opening minute of the film, and Monroe's off kilter performance highlights this beautifully and, at times, terrifyingly. Winifred is as mad as a hatter and stays that way until the end, it is only the level of delusion within her that changes as she tries to convince both herself and all those around her that she is very much sane. Monroe uses a combination of subtle facial ticks, raising one eyebrow higher than the other, talking with a demented, crooked smile and a stare that never appears to be making direct eye contact with the personal she is communicating with. She is always just a little “off”, even in her saner moments.

As most (all?) of “Victorian Psycho” is shown via Winifred’s worldview, director Zachary Wigon has used a number of methods to illuminate just how off centre this governess truly is. With a mixture of skewed angle framing and the use of wide angle lenses, Wigon effortlessly shows that Winifred does not see the world like everyone else. I am not sure if they have altered Maika Monroe's face digitally, or if it is just the use of angles, lenses and make-up, but her visage is never shown symmetrically. Like I keep saying, everything is just a little off with Winifred. I mentioned the eyebrows above, but they have given Monroe teeth that are not straight too, and her posture always has her leaning, sometimes slightly, other times in an extreme fashion like in the opening shot of the film.

This may shock you all, but I have not read the book this film is based on (incidentally, author Virginia Feito wrote the screenplay for the film, adapting her own book of the same title), so I was surprised that “Victorian Psycho” turned out to be a horror / comedy, as opposed to the Gothic horror film I had assumed it to be. Yes, you read that right, “Victorian Psycho” is a member of the dreaded horror / comedy club; a genre I often dislike because they are so difficult to pull off successfully due to it being very hard to find the correct balance between both the laughs and the horror. Again, I am happy to report that “Victorian Psycho” has succeeded in doing just that and this is due to everyone, both in front of and behind the camera, understanding exactly the tone of the film they are making. It is a heightened, slightly over the top world, with the comedy being of the blackest variety possible, which is my favourite kind. Seriously, there are moments in this film where I found myself laughing out loud and then almost immediately being embarrassed that I had laughed at it, due to how demented it all was. The perfect example of this is when Winifred brutally murders an infant with a broken tea-cup (after a hallucination she has), and the following commentary that comes out of her mouth after committing the evil deed; it is so wrong, but also so, so funny!! You find yourself at first thinking “Oh my God! Did she actually do that?!?” before it changes to “Oh God, did I actually laugh at that?!?” So while the comedy is quite dark, it is done in a slightly goofy manner to take some of the edge off of it. This is also true of the horror moments, as Winifred performs some quite nefarious deeds (did I mention that she kills a baby?), but due to her state of mind, it is presented in a manner that is less serious. Aside from the blood and guts (which there is plenty), I also found moments in “Victorian Psycho” genuinely scary due to Monroe's performance. There is a moment when she hisses the word “MAD” that is positively chilling, as well as another time when her young charge, Andrew, (while trying to exert some power over his governess) asks if he can call her “Winnie”, she quietly says “you can call me Fred”, which Andrew follows with “but that's a boy's name”, which Winifred finishes with “Fred is the name of the demon inside me!” while blowing out the candle that is illuminating the room, leaving the boy in total darkness. Mic drop! Scary!!

For a film like “Victorian Psycho” to work well, the entire cast needs to be on the same page as to the kind of film they are making and thankfully that is the case here. Everyone is excellent in their roles and appear to be having a ball making this film, but my personal favourites were Jason Isaacs who plays the patriarch of the family Winifred is working for, and who brings all kinds of goofy fun to the film, and particularly Thomasin McKenzie who plays the family's nursemaid, Miss Lamb, and who also becomes Winifred’s one true friend in the house. McKenzie brings both heart and a sense of naivete to this wild and crazy Gothic tale, while also being part of one of the film's most shocking and bloody sequences (no, not the baby scene).

Now I mentioned that “Victorian Psycho” wasn't perfect and had a few flaws, and one thing I didn't love were some of the over-the-top, flashy camera moves. Personally I felt that they did not fit with the rest of the film from a visual standpoint, and functioned more as a show-off piece, rather than serving any narrative function. I love myself some Sam Raimi and the wild and crazy kinetic camera moves that he is famous for, but what makes Raimi's films so memorable is he knows the correct time to use these camera tricks and get the full effect from them, but he also knows when to also put these tricks away if the scene or movie itself doesn't need them. “Victorian Psycho” has quite a distinguished and expensive look to it, thanks to cinematographer Nico Aguilar, who highlights the Gothic atmosphere that is the norm in these types of period films, so these wacky camera tricks ultimately take you out of the film because the viewer's mind recognises they are so different from the rest of the film. (The wild camera moves that involve Winifred’s state of mind I can handle, and understand their importance, it is just when they stray to other elements within the film that I disagreed with their use). In regards to the look of the film, Wigon and Aguilar have decided to shoot the film digitally, which I have no problem with, however it appeared that a fake layer of “film grain” had been added to the image to give it an older look, which really bothered me while watching it on the big screen. Another thing that I felt was a flaw in “Victorian Psycho” was the film's ending, the final massacre if you will, which I feel director Zachary Wigon fumbles. I think he totally undercuts the potential horror of the scene, even though it is probably true to his narrative approach. I know that sounds vague and contradictory (which is true, but I do not want to ruin the ending of a film so new, by explaining this), but I think he misses a trick and a chance on giving horror fans what they have been dying to see.

Overall though, these are minor quibbles and do not take away from how ridiculously entertaining and fun “Victorian Psycho” turned out to be. I had an absolute ball with this film thanks to the truly demented performance from Maika Monroe, and the film's willingness to break any taboo possible, all in the name of laughs and scares. It is not a perfect film by any means, but it is certainly a bloody enjoyable one. I loved it!

3.5 Stars.

 

ALL OF A SUDDEN - MIFF 2026

 

As per the MIFF guide: “Marie-Lou runs an aged-care facility on the outskirts of Paris. She’s devoted to her job and her patients, and firmly believes that the elderly should be treated with dignity. It’s tough work, and, like so many of her employees, she’s dealing with burnout. But her spirit is rekindled when she meets Japanese playwright Mari, who’s staging a theatre piece about the history of mental asylums in Italy. As they plunge headlong into all-night conversations about mortality, philosophy and the degradation of capitalism, Mari and Marie-Lou’s new friendship will change both of their lives.”

The film I was most worried about at this year's MIFF was Ryusuke Hamaguchi's “All of a Sudden” due to its extended running time. Not that I am afraid of long films, but I am currently recovering from a back injury that has seen me off work the past month. The most painful thing for me to do right now is to sit for an extended period of time, ironically, since that is exactly what I will be doing during MIFF. Having my longest film of this year's festival playing on the very first day was a worry, but I am happy to say that while I was definitely uncomfortable during the screening of “All of a Sudden”, my back ultimately survived......but damn, it is a long film!!!

“All of a Sudden” is Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi's brand new film, and deals with the health care systems of the world, particularly for the aged and those of special needs. With a massive running time of three hours and sixteen minutes, it is a demanding experience, and with it's two lead characters being academics, some of the discourse and discussions are quite heady and intricate, so for anyone looking for some breezy entertainment, this is not the film for you. However, that is not to say that “All of a Sudden” is a borefest, as it most certainly is not; this is a film that has a lot to say, has fantastic characters and importantly, it does not pander to its audience as if they are morons. Those familiar with director Hamaguchi will be aware that his stories often have a humanistic bent to them, with human connection being a regular theme, and he is not afraid of long running times (his 2017 film “Happy Hour” runs a whopping five hours and seventeen minutes, making the running time of “All of a Sudden” look like a television episode in comparison). Personally though, I have found that I have reacted more positively towards his films that have had a more “normal” length, such as “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” (2021) and “Evil Does Not Exist” (2023).

What is most interesting about “All of a Sudden” is that this is the first time Ryusuke Hamaguchi is working outside of Japan, with the majority of this film taking place in Paris. This also means that a large chunk of the film is also spoken in French, although through a plot conceit, both our main characters, Marie-Lou and Mari, are able to speak and understand both French and Japanese due to each character having studied in the other's country. Because of this, when Marie-Lou and Mari are in conversation, they will regularly change language depending on how hard they find the sentence to say, and somehow it all just feels so organic within the film. Check that, I absolutely loved it because it felt so real between these characters. I know that Virginie Efira learnt Japanese especially for this role and you can tell that she is not just saying her (Japanese) lines phonetically and that she truly understands exactly what she is saying, and thus is able to correctly emote at the same time. The same is true of Tao Okamoto and her French, although I am not sure if she already knew the language prior to shooting the film.

The highlight(s) of “All of a Sudden” are the very long conversations between Marie-Lou and Mari, particularly the first one that takes place after Marie-Lou has been to a play directed by Mari, and sees the two girls wander through Paris as they talk, with time slowly passing. Ryusuke Hamaguchi has been blessed by two outstanding lead performances that are even better when the two of them are together, thanks to their magical chemistry. Marie-Lou is played by Virginie Efira, whilst Mari is played by Tao Okamoto and both are truly fantastic. Efira gives her character a heaviness to her, in that she has all these ideas on how to improve health care and make it more humane but is constantly weighed down by the bureaucracy behind the change, as well as the initial inefficiencies that these new changes will cause, resulting in more angst among her workers due to over-work. You can sense Marie-Lou only wants to do good, but through Efira's performance you can feel that it is starting to get to her and that she is exhausted from the constant fighting for not much gain. Okamoto on the other hand gives Mari a real lightness to her, as she is constantly beaming and full of life and you can see the complex intellectual conversations with Marie-Lou are energising her and further increasing her zest for life and the world. As I have already said, the two girls have wonderful chemistry and you fully believe the life changing impact they have on one another over the course of only one night. It is no surprise that Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the “Best Actress” Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival; they are truly outstanding together.

So what is “All of a Sudden” actually about? As I mentioned earlier, Ryusuke Hamaguchi here is looking at the treatment of both the aged and those of special needs in today's society, and particularly those who have been hospitalised because of their ailments or cognitive decline. I'm not sure if it is because I am getting older myself (I turned 51 earlier this year) or because the world's population is ageing but is a topic in cinema that I appreciate seeing represented, because it rarely is, and I was also a big fan of last year's “The Blue Trail” which looked at the treatment of the elderly in Brazil, but in a much more fanciful story. “All of a Sudden” is Ryusuke Hamaguchi's cry for action in treating these people with the utmost respect until they finally pass. They are not to be hidden away behind closed doors and forgotten about and Hamaguchi's film posits the idea that nurses and carers should actively engage with these people, with the respect they deserve, because they are not dead until they are dead. I know that sounds simplistic but he is saying just because there is little life less, that little life should be respected as much as everything that came before it. Hamaguchi also makes the point that one must look after themselves also before they can be any help to someone else, something that is increasingly difficult to do in the health profession due to the constant staff shortages, which sees too much being left to too few. However those few must give themselves the time off to rest and rejuvenate before they become useless to help anyone else. I also feel Hamaguchi is scathing at the bureaucracy involved in the profession as it makes it almost impossible to enact any significant change for good. Seeing as Ryusuke Hamaguchi has made his two lead characters academics, it gives him the excuse to indulge in some very (very) long conversations about some quite heady topics and for the most part I really engaged with them and was quite enthralled by what was being discussed. Things like the fact that a capitalist society leads to an ageing population were genuinely interesting to listen to and that is because I never felt like Ryusuke Hamaguchi was lecturing his audience........until.......Mari does exactly that! She literally explains the problems, whiteboard included, of a capitalist and democratic society and I must admit because of the way it was presented, it suddenly reminded me of school and, I must admit, that I began to zone out a bit there.

When “All of a Sudden” was initially announced, Ryusuke Hamaguchi said that he wanted to shoot a different Paris than the norm and not just photograph the same old touristy places we see in every movie set there, and he succeeded in doing exactly that. There is not a single shot of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees or the Louvre Museum anywhere in the film and it just gives Paris such a different, grounded feel to it all. I absolutely loved it because it felt totally fresh and new, and yet just as pictorially beautiful as the landmarks we all know and love in Paris. He does the same when the film briefly moves to Japan eschewing the metropolises of Tokyo for the mountains of Kyoto, which again look stunning.

So was there anything I didn't like about “All of a Sudden”? Look, it is a very, very long film and to be honest, I do not think it needs to be as long as it is. It definitely was exhausting and I do not think it would've been a lesser film if certain moments were trimmed down a little or removed entirely. I also had a big problem with one of the therapy techniques used in the film which saw everyone, patients and carers, massaging each other's feet. Granted, this is my own personal baggage because I hate people touching or even looking at my feet, but these scenes (and there are a few of them) just made me feel icky. Finally, when the title of the film is spoken by a certain character, and in the context that it was said, I immediately knew where the film was heading, so it was like I was waiting for it to catch up with me. (Incidentally, speaking of the title, I loved the fact that during the opening credits the title was written in Japanese, whilst for the closing credits it was written in French; it seemed perfectly apt for this lovely, heart rendering story).

Overall, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's “All of a Sudden” is a long and heady drama looking at the treatment of the elderly in today's society, and whilst the call to action within the film is admirable and one I fully support, eventually the film does overstay its welcome. However it is blessed by two stunning lead performances from Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, and the photography of Paris is unlike any film before it, not to mention it is packed with some fantastic conversations between the two main characters. Despite it's extended running time (which I am sure will put some people off), “All of a Sudden” is definitely worth a watch, although I am not sure how much repeat value it has.

3.5 Stars.