Like many women in Kosovo, Fahrije is hoping for news about her husband, who is still missing seven years after the war. Widows are not expected to work, but she has to provide for her family and joins forces with other widows to start a business producing ajvar. This is even though the community already condemns her for daring to drive. The film was inspired by the true story of Fahrije Hoti.... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
Like many women in Kosovo, Fahrije is hoping for news about her husband, who is still missing seven years after the war. Widows are not expected to work, but she has to provide for her family and joins forces with other widows to start a business producing ajvar. This is even though the community already condemns her for daring to drive. The film was inspired by the true story of Fahrije Hoti.
Leave your thoughts about Hive.
| Screen DailyAllan HunterThere is a spare, focused storytelling here that creates room to breathe. |
| RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyThough 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. |
| The GuardianPeter BradshawThis is a richly intelligent drama, in which every word and every shot counts. |
| Film ThreatHanna B.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. |
| Time OutPhil de SemlyenHive 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. |
| The New York TimesManohla DargisHive 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. |
| The A.V. ClubRoxana HadadiThis 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. |
| The Observer (UK)Simran HansBasholli understands that healing is possible, even if closure isn’t. |
| CineVueMatthew AndersonFirst-time writer-director Blerta Basholli’s feature is an expertly crafted, compassionate testament to the perseverance and defiance of its courageous female collective. |
| The Irish TimesTara BradyBasholli’s simple, elegantly structured script and Alex Bloom’s cinematography places Gashi’s carefully calibrated performance in almost every frame. |
