A bizarre new chicken movie is coming to theaters this fall. The film follows a chicken that escapes a grisly fate and searches for a new home. Beef and Eddington director Ari Aster serves as executive producer of the project.
Hen had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It will open at the Quad Cinema in New York on November 6, 2026. György Pálfi directs the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Zsófia Ruttkay. The story turns the bird’s journey into a dark tale about human misery. The film is a German, Greek, and Hungarian production and runs for 96 minutes.
Pálfi’s films, such as Hukkle and Taxidermia, showcase his interest in unconventional storytelling. He uses a real chicken as the central character. Eight real chickens named Eszti, Szandi, Feri, Enci, Eti, Enikő, Nóra, and Anett played the role of the titular hen.
The human cast includes Ioannis Kokiasmenos, Maria Diakopanagioti, Argyris Pantazaras, Eleni Apostolopoulou, Mahmod Bamerny, Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos, and Antonis Kafetzopoulos. Giorgos Karvelas serves as director of photography, while Réka Lehmhényi handles editing. Szabolcs Szőke composed the music.
What do we see in the Hen trailer?
The Hen trailer begins with the chicken trying to escape her dangerous surroundings. She soon finds herself in an unfamiliar environment as she searches for safety. The footage follows the bird as she moves from one location to another.
The trailer also hints at the dangers surrounding the chicken. She encounters other animals and people whose actions place her safety at risk. Meanwhile, her attempts to protect her eggs give the story an emotional center. The film presents these events through the chicken’s perspective rather than explaining the human world directly.
The film also uses its unusual premise to examine darker human themes. The story brings together greed, smuggling, exploitation, and the migrant crisis as it follows the chicken’s search for safety and home.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
