Hive (2021)
3.8 of 5 from 48 ratings
1h 24min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Sundance triple award winner 'Hive' is a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije (Yllka Gashi), who, like many of the other women in her patriarchal village, has lived with fading hope and burgeoning grief since her husband went missing during the war in Kosovo. In order to provide for her struggling family, she pulls the other widows in her community together to launch a business selling a local food product. Together, they find healing and solace in considering a future without their husbands - but their will to begin living independently is met with hostility. The men in the village condemn Fahrije’s efforts to empower herself and the women around her, starting a feud that threatens their newfound sovereignty - and the financial future of Fahrije’s family. Against the backdrop of Eastern Europe’s civil unrest and lingering misogyny, Fahrije and the women of her village join in a struggle to find hope in the face of an uncertain future. Winner of the Audience Award, Directing Award, and World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, 'Hive' is a pithy, devastating portrait of loss and our uphill journeys to freedom. - Actors:
- Yllka Gashi, Cun Lajci, Aurita Agushi, Kumrije Hoxha, Adriana Matoshi, Molikë Maxhuni, Blerta Ismaili, Kaona Sylejmani, Mal Noah Safqiu, Xhejlane Terbunja, Ilir Prapashtica, Bislim Muçaj, Blin Sylejmani, Shkelqim Islami, Adem Karaga, Zarije Jonuzi Çeliku, Astrit Kabashi, Luan Kryeziu, Valire Haxhijaj Zeneli, Arta Lahu
- Directors:
- Blerta Basholli
- Producers:
- Agon Uka, Yll Uka, Valon Bajgora
- Writers:
- Blerta Basholli
- Genres:
- Drama
- Countries:
- Kosovo
Reviews (1) of Hive
A Quiet Sort of Shrug - Hive review by griggs
You know exactly where this is going within ten minutes, and that’s sort of the problem. Fahrije’s husband never came back from the war, the village has decided that grief should come with a curfew, and she’s got bees, kids and not much else to work with. So she starts selling red pepper sauce. The men don’t approve, and approval, it turns out, isn’t really on offer anywhere in this village.
It’s the quiet-defiance-against-a-hostile-community arc, and the engine still runs, it just never quite catches fire. Yllka Gashi does her best on a face that seems to have given up on smiling somewhere around scene two, but there’s only so much a blank expression can carry alone. Every beat lands exactly where you’d expect — door slammed, gossip whispered, one neighbour coming round embarrassingly late to being decent — and that’s the trouble, really. You can feel the film hitting its marks rather than living them.
Given the subject matter, it should have landed harder than it did. It might work for you. For me, it was a bit of a shrug.
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