Point out U.Ok. filmmaker Andrea Arnold to a movie lover and there’s a robust chance the organ notes that open Rihanna’s “We Discovered Love” begin up of their head. I’m referring, in fact, to the second in 2016’s American Honey wherein Shia LaBeouf’s character dances on a Walmart counter to the observe. Arnold’s newest, Hen, consists of a lot of her patented sing-along moments. There may be an unforgettable rendition of Coldplay’s “Yellow” wherein Bug (Barry Keoghan) and his male associates loudly serenade a toad (sure, the amphibian. You learn that proper). It’s arduous at occasions to not sense Hen leaning an excessive amount of into these inherently crowd-pleasing diegetic music sequences. However Arnold is so gifted at staging them that they nonetheless largely hit the spot even when employed for the umpteenth time.

Like Ronald Bronstein’s father character within the Safdie brothers’ 2009 movie Daddy Longlegs, Keoghan’s younger Bug is woefully ill-equipped to be a father, however possesses many endearing qualities in any other case. Ceaselessly shirtless, his physique is outfitted with an array of horrible tattoos, most notably a large centipede that extends from his chest all the best way as much as his decrease jaw. Contemporary off his star-making efficiency in Saltburn, Keoghan chews the surroundings in Hen, bringing a radiant charisma to a father determine that might be off-putting in different palms.

What Is ‘Hen’ About?

Bug’s no-nonsense daughter Bailey (newcomer Nykiya Adams) is the movie’s lead and as a preteen rising up in a damaged house, she should navigate conventional coming-of-age tropes together with getting her first interval in a male-dominated house, and fewer standard ones like deciding whether or not to affix her half-brother’s vigilante gang. Hen would possibly’ve benefitted from zeroing in on just a few of those components and increasing on them a bit extra, quite than rapidly introducing new concepts solely to have them disappear for the rest of the movie. The movie’s second half settles in on Bailey’s mom’s boyfriend’s anger points, and his scenes are visceral and harrowing but in addition overly acquainted—this can be a story we’ve seen earlier than many occasions.

A standout sequence is Franz Rogowski’s introduction because the titular Hen, by accident scaring Bailey along with his sudden look in the course of a seemingly empty subject. He playfully vogues for Bailey’s digicam, twirling round in a kilt for her, failing to grasp she’s filming so he received’t try any humorous enterprise. Perhaps it’s this naivety that pulls Bailey to Hen, however she rapidly drops the arduous exterior and takes an energetic curiosity in him. Bailey is offered in her personal character introduction as a fan of birds, and so these bizarre birdlike qualities of this stranger additionally named Hen, name out and pique her curiosity.

‘Hen’ Has a Sprint of Magic Realism

Certainly one of Arnold’s strengths is available in refusing to deify her working-class topics. These are neither the innocent saints of Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland nor the exploited topics of a “parachute” documentary (when documentary filmmakers pop right into a deprived area, seize the footage and fly out). To Arnold, individuals are usually each shitheads and worthy of affection. Individuals make errors and harm these they love most. In Hen, one particular person not afforded this complexity is the offended boyfriend and his cartoonish rage feels out of step with the angle granted everybody else.

Hen carries a palpable eagerness to viewers please, most evident throughout the closing credit the place tough iPhone footage of working-class Brits singing alongside to a well-liked tune taking part in. There isn’t a connection to the previous narrative aside from it being but extra newbie singing. After a transferring climax wherein the magical realism alluded to up till that time takes middle stage, ending on this false be aware of non-actors singing is unlucky.

Hen is the kind of kitchen sink British drama Arnold beforehand mastered in movies like 2009’s Fish Tank, however since moved away from in recent times. Her previous couple of options and TV collection directing gigs had been all U.S.-based. Hen in the end reads as Arnold “taking part in the hits” with a story she essentially is aware of find out how to stage in her sleep. In the end it feels too acquainted, even with the welcome magical realism additions and a hallucinogenic slime secreting toad. Arnold followers will little doubt discover loads to latch onto with Hen, but it surely’s unlikely to transform non-believers.

Hen is now out there to stream on Mubi within the U.S.

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