Hive

Basholli understands that healing is possible, even if closure isn’t.

The feel-good finale is well-earned and the glimpse of the women on whom the film is based is, for once, not merely a watermark of authenticity, but a genuinely moving vista.

Hive cooks up a beautifully delicate rally for independence and justice, brought out through precise processes of the communal culinary experience.

This is a richly intelligent drama, in which every word and every shot counts.

Hive is never quite a feelgood film, but there is a tangible sense of joy as Fahrije begins to lead her fellow widows to a place of healing and the promise of better times ahead.

A succinct drama with limited scope, but respectful of its subjects’ intimacies.

Much of the story’s moral force depends on the splendid Yllka Gashi, a presence of such forbidding strength that when her features soften even for a moment we are riveted.

A hidden gem that should be sought out.

A powerhouse of a true tale that's brought to the screen with a devastatingly potent lead performance, Hive is simply unshakeable.

Films from the Balkans often connect back to the war in the 1990s ... While Basholli honors that past in her film, the focus on women in an area where misogyny still lingers takes the film in a whole new emotional direction.