Hive review – searing drama of womanhood and perseverance

A powerful and emotionally-charged debut that lingers well beyond the credits, Blerta Basholli’s Hive is the work of an exceptional storyteller. It is not often a film stops you in your tracks right out of the gate, but after a title card informs us that what we're seeing is based on a true story and Fahrije (Yllka Gashi) is introduced in an elongated single-shot sequence, frantically unzipping body bags in search of her missing husband, Hive already has us under its unique spell.

Set in a provincial Kosovan village in the aftermath of one of the biggest massacres of the 1998 war, Fahrije has assumed her missing husband’s position as head of the household after his return grows more unlikely by the day. Demoralised but holding out hope, Fahrije is a survivor emboldened by an astonishing performance from Yllka Gashi. The actor ignites Hive with a fighting spirit that is pressurised by cinematographer Alex Bloom’s tight, handheld frames.

Fahrije is responsible for two generations in one household; she must be a mother to her children but a carer for her father-in-law (Çun Lajçi), while also making money for the household. She quashes emotion, suppressing rising tears or bubbling anger in favour of straight-faced and frustrated silence. Fahrije works as a beekeeper selling honey at a local stall but pivots to entrepreneurial ambitions of uniting the village’s widows for an ajvar (a traditional Balkans condiment made of red bell pepper) business that would give them agency and independence, void of men.

On the streets and in Fahrije’s home, the empowerment of women is synonymous with rebellion. She is repeatedly stung, whether it's the physical pain of a bee or the psychological torment of a patriarchal community that swarms like a hive with a deafening buzz. Hair pulled back with a no-nonsense approach, Fahrije is surrounded by taut aggression that materialises with a rock shattering her car’s rear window and a man sexually assaulting her as she goes out about her normal business.

More than twenty years after the war, 1600 Kosovan people are still missing, and while Basholli’s film is embedded in a clear socio-context, Hive is more concerned with exploring loss on a personal level. The scale of this war crime narrowed to one woman mourning her husband and the father of her children gives Basholli the space to dissect grief with searing emotional depth. Basholli is so focused on Fahrije that sometimes she is the only thing visible in the frame, whether she's toying with a cigarette or hypnotised by the handmade mechanics of preparing ajvar.

Basholli returned to her native Kosovo in order to make this film and its understated story is fortified by her emotionally resonant, observant and raw approach to the subject matter. Concluding with footage of the real-life Fahrije, this is a searing and touching tale of determination in the purest of forms.

Hive is released in UK cinemas on 18 March.