Hive
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: November 5, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Screen DailyAllan HunterFeb 3, 2021
There is a spare, focused storytelling here that creates room to breathe. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubRoxana HadadiNov 3, 2021
This is an immersive portrait, buoyed by a central performance that’s hypnotizing in its sparse naturalism. What Basholli has made is a thoughtful, humanistic exploration of the fortitude needed to summon hope in a time and place resigned to hopelessness. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansMar 21, 2022
Basholli understands that healing is possible, even if closure isn’t. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyMar 18, 2022
Basholli’s simple, elegantly structured script and Alex Bloom’s cinematography places Gashi’s carefully calibrated performance in almost every frame. Read full review
80
EmpireJake CunninghamMar 17, 2022
Hive cooks up a beautifully delicate rally for independence and justice, brought out through precise processes of the communal culinary experience. Although not entirely well balanced, it makes for nourishing, inspiring viewing. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 16, 2022
This is a richly intelligent drama, in which every word and every shot counts. Read full review
80
CineVueMatthew AndersonMar 15, 2022
First-time writer-director Blerta Basholli’s feature is an expertly crafted, compassionate testament to the perseverance and defiance of its courageous female collective. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMar 10, 2022
Hive is never quite a feelgood film – the deep trauma that underpins it militates against any jaunty Calendar Girls vibes – but there is a tangible sense of joy as Fahrije begins to lead her fellow, long-suffering widows to a place of healing and the promise of better times ahead. And the comeuppance one or two of the menfolk get is definitely mood-enhancing. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 5, 2021
Hive seizes and holds your interest simply through the drama created by sympathetic characters trying to surmount awful, unfair hurdles. Mostly, though, what holds you rapt is Gashi’s powerful, physically grounded performance, which lyrically articulates her taciturn character’s inner workings. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyNov 5, 2021
Though it doesn’t break new ground, Hive still reminds one how urgently significant it is to honor the unique fighting spirit of women, and how much cinematic joy seeing that spirit flourish against the odds can bring about. Read full review
75
Film ThreatHanna B.Feb 3, 2021
Although, like its main character, Hive is more on the low-key and pensive side, it is nonetheless a gut-punching and measured film. It is about the consequences of warfare and the many wounds those who survive have to tend to in order to create a new normal after years of utter tragedy, such as the genocide and massacres that happened in many villages like Krusha during the Kosovo War. Read full review
73
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganNov 8, 2021
Far more interested in unpacking the pervasive misogynistic sentiments in Kosovo than the actual war itself, the film is pointed in its chosen observation, but appears remiss of broader political engagement. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleNov 11, 2021
Hive is occasionally bumpy, but it’s the rough terrain of a raw narrative — the out-of-place music cue or awkward dream snippet doesn’t disrupt the social realist momentum, which is at its best when focused on the grit of how moving forward is also moving on. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungFeb 11, 2021
It’s hard to think of a less dramatic subject to fictionalize, yet in its own quiet way, Hive builds a strong storyline around the self-reliance and determination of an uneducated country woman, played with glammed-down but riveting cool by a granite-faced Yllka Gashi. Read full review
67
The Film StageOrla SmithFeb 3, 2021
Despite Gashi’s strong, stoic performance, it feels like the film is more interested in inspiring its audience than it is in gleaning insight into Fahrije’s psychology. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineWilliam RepassNov 1, 2021
A layer of ambivalence facilitates our identification with Fahrije but also makes her a distinct character and not just an archetype. Read full review
60
Little White LiesFatima SheriffMar 11, 2022
It’s a worthy subject confidently handled, but without a more textured landscape, Hive feels more isolated than it could be for the community its title refers to. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 8, 2021
If you doubt that any movie could pay more exhaustive attention to its heroine than Spencer does, try Hive. Read full review
58
IndieWireRyan LattanzioFeb 3, 2021
While it certainly offers up a necessary-if-dour vision of patriarchy-dominated life in this particular corner of Europe, by-the-numbers storytelling and a flat, visual style occasionally lead to dramatic intertia. Still, Gashi is powerfully, effectively steely as a woman who must take matters into her own hands, even when they are tied by society. Read full review
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