by Alex Billington
April 30, 2026
Source: YouTube
Why did the chicken cross the road? 🐣 Madman Films in Australia has unveiled the first official trailer for a film called Hen, or The Hen, an animal movie made by Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi. This clever tale of a chicken who goes on the run premiered at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival last year and will be out in Europe this summer in theaters. This film follows a Leghorn chicken who escapes from an industrial farm and wanders until finding a home in the chicken coop of a small family-owned restaurant tied to a human smuggling ring. It was shot entirely in Greece and features 8 separate Hungarian chickens playing the lead role of the “hen” – named Eszti, Szandi, Feri, Enci, Eti, Eniko, Nora, and Anett. 🐔 They’re all cuties! Hen follows a chicken on the road navigating the pecking order of a crumbling seaside restaurant in Greece. As she fights to protect her eggs, she becomes an unwitting witness to the complex human lives around her as the restaurant is caught up in greed, smuggling, and the migrant crisis. Reminds me of those donkey movies Eo and Au Hasard Balthazar, which are no doubt an inspiration for this tale. Looks quite good! I’m curious.
Here’s the official international trailer (+ poster) for György Pálfi’s film The Hen, direct from YouTube:
Via TIFF: “Hen is György Pálfi’s stunning tale of a determined chicken — played by 8 real-life Hungarian chickens named Eszti, Szandi, Feri, Enci, Eti, Enikő, Nóra, and Anett — who departs her wretched life on an industrial farm in search of a safe spot to raise her chicks. On her tumultuous voyage, she encounters the darkness and cruelty of humankind. Landing in a lacklustre restaurant in a Greek seaside village, our plucky protagonist is captured by the elderly proprietor (Yannis Kokiasmenos), who lives under the yoke of his daughter’s criminal boyfriend. The adventurous hen navigates human and chicken pecking orders alike, bearing witness to common thievery and the predatory figures involved in the migrant crisis.” 🐔 🐥
Hen, or Kota (in Greek) or The Hen, is directed by Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi, director of the films Hukkle, Taxidermia, I Am Not Your Friend, Final Cut: Ladies & Gentlemen, Free Fall, His Master’s Voice, and Perpetuity previously, plus other cinema projects. The screenplay is written by György Pálfi & Zsófia Ruttkay. Produced by Thanassis Karathanos, Martin Hampel, Costas Lambropoulos, Giorgos Kiriakos. A coproduction of companies from Germany, Greece and Hungary. This first premiered at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival in their Platform section last year. It first opened in Hungary in early April this year and it also opens in the UK in May this summer. No other US release date is set yet – stay tuned. Who wants to watch?
