One thing that keeps me going back to the movies is that every now and then, I see something so creatively presented that it completely changes my perspective. These films all pushed the boundaries of cinematic storytelling in unique ways.
Hen (8/8)
This is definitely the pullet-surprise of the fest: a live-action dramatic film with a chicken as the central character may already be one of my favorites of the festival. We meet our newly hatched hero in a chicken factory, where she’s plucked from the yellow pile of chicks because of her unusual black fluff. Her coloring is not ideal for a monochrome industry, so while being tossed aside from the flock, she manages to flee a cargo truck, beginning an often frightening journey that eventually lands her in the relatively safe care of a kindly taverna owner whose son-in-law is involved with shifty, tracksuit-clad Euro-gangsters. What’s amazing, hilarious, and often emotionally involving is that we come to know the hen as a fully developed personality: from her harrowing escape from a fox, to her eyeballing her first “handsome” rooster, to her “Booooohhhhhkkk!” look of surprise when she lays her first egg, to the day-to-day grind of romance and egg-laying, amusingly set to the building score of “Boléro.” If the hen herself doesn’t get you emotionally involved, then when the manure hits the fan due to the son-in-law’s side hustle, seeing human cruelty from a bird’s-eye view becomes surprisingly eye-opening. This hen has a truly incredible journey.
Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird) (7/8)
Filmmaker Anna Fitch was a 24-year-old trained entomologist when she met the dynamic older woman Yolanda Shea, or “Yo,” aged 72, at a rummage sale, and the two became fast friends. Intending to make a documentary about her friend, Fitch spent several years filming the still-sharp Yo telling stories from her life as her physical body began winding down. Yo may not have been a name you’d be familiar with, but she was certainly a colorful character you’d have liked to know: a Swiss immigrant artist turned California wife turned acid-dropping hippie, she reinvented herself in middle age. When Yo passed away, it took Fitch and her partner, Banker White, nearly 10 years to finish the film. In the process, the final product became not only a lovely tribute to one woman’s life, but also an amazing example of how art and creativity can help someone deal with grief. Fitch is also a puppeteer, and she recreates Yo’s stories using one-third-scale puppets she made of her friend, along with a miniature version of Yo’s California bungalow. The reenactments are so convincing that you sometimes feel as though you’re watching old film footage. It’s impossible not to laugh when Yo’s story of a chaotic family funeral is recreated with partying insects. But when Yo’s puppet reads a letter from Anna updating her friend on her life and growing children, it’s equally impossible not to be profoundly moved.
Franz (5/8)
Unlike the recent Franz Kafka drama The Glory of Life (Die Herrlichkeit des Lebens), Agnieszka Holland’s film at least makes some uneven attempts to portray the early-20th-century visionary writer in a genuinely Kafkaesque way. Touching on his youth as an awkward, sickly child with a domineering father (Peter Kurth), the film dutifully traces his growth from a young man (Idan Weiss) reading shocking essays to a literary society to his moderate publishing success and eventual early demise from consumption. Weiss certainly fits the role — a slight, pale, angular figure whose eyes light up whenever he instantly becomes infatuated with a new woman (let’s just say, he is the worst fiancé ever). One of the film’s best moments comes when Kafka’s actual writing is finally given space to unfurl. It’s effectively a film within the film: an enactment of Kafka’s brutally graphic story of bureaucratic cruelty and blind adherence to authority, In the Penal Colony. Another way Holland tries to inject a Kafkaesque vibe is by inserting scenes of modern tour guides leading contemporary crowds through Prague’s Kafka Museum and other historic sites, even stopping to promote a “Kafka Burger” at a fast-food joint. These detours are jarring at first and take some getting used to, injecting absurdity into what is otherwise a relatively straightforward biopic. Does it work? Sort of. It’s an interesting experiment that will probably resonate more with viewers already familiar with Kafka’s few, but highly influential, published works.
Part of Moviepie’s coverage of the 2026 Seattle International Film Festival.
