Simply Perfect

Lack of good storyline.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

At times this movie shines and gains interest and even get emotionally effective but other times it gets rather frustrating to watch.It's really hard to talk about the plot because for one it's kind of hard to explain it with it being so all over the place and you kind of need to spoil the whole movie if you do an attempt so I won't do that.It jumps back and forth in time a lot and at very random times so if you don't like confusing movies then it's probably easy to get lost and lose patience with it.Rather original at least, I'll give it that and yes occasionally pretty good.Still in the end I can't give it more than a 5, which for me means that while I don't necessarily recommend it I'm not gonna tell people to avoid it, especially if they are horror or sci-fi buffs. But proceed with caution I suppose, and a healthy dose of patience as this movie will require it.

I didn't know what to exactly expect from The Hive, and after having watched it, my ambivalence remains, because despite including an interesting premise and an attractive visual style, the screenplay tends to deflate as we start to guess where the "big mystery" is heading, not to mention that some poor performances ruin various scenes which should have been shocking but end up being just irritating due to the null talent from the actors. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that director David Yarovesky decided to face such an unusual project in his first film. First, the pros: the mystery contained in The Hive is interesting, and it is well built in order to keep us in suspense about its origin and possible evolution. Co-screenwriters Yarovesky and Will Honley play with our expectations, offering us vague clues of an uncertain meaning... Are we in the middle of a zombie invasion, a multiple satanic possession or a simple epidemic of apocalyptic proportions? Fortunately, the answer is more complicated (even though it includes a bit of all that), and it's interesting to build the puzzle at the same time as the main character. At least, that's what I felt during the first half of The Hive. But eventually, new clues to solve the mystery are revealed, and that's when it feels a bit tiring to spin around the same events while the main character writes notes on the walls and experiments repetitive flashbacks to reach the "big revelation" we had been waiting from half an hour before. However, the main problem is the bad performances from Gabriel Basso as the main character and Jacob Zachar as his best friend. Both feel very forced in their roles, and as a consequence, it's difficult for the audience to root for their characters. Fortunately, the supporting actors make a decent work in their roles, including Kathryn Prescott, Gabrielle Walsh, Elya Baskin and Sean Gunn. In conclusion, The Hive managed to keep me interested, and I can give it a moderate recommendation as a curious fusion of horror and science fiction. Its second half decays a bit, but it still brings us new information to complement the mystery I felt kinda predictable. With better actors than Basso and Zachar and a more refined screenplay, The Hive might have been a hidden gem; but in its current state, it fell short of its big potential, and even though I found it interesting, it didn't leave me completely satisfied.

If looked deeper, and thought more than what was displayed on the screen, the story will appeal to it's true execution of what is a deeply sympathetic horror film, manipulating genre elements into something even more, something even more meaningful than displayed. "The Hive" is a movie, if taken seriously, that'll move, and affect the audience in a massive way. The movie starts out with an extremely unique plot, of which involves heavily on flashbacks, memory, as well as the past of which is all explained in a well manor in the film. We follow the story of four friends of which were once counseling a children's camp, only to soon fall into impending doom as a horrid virus plagues humanity, hitting a wave of horror to these characters. It may sound typical, or clichéd in this case. But the film, above, and beyond succeeded in making a semi-predictable plot into something even greater than it was set out to be. The story manages to journey audiences into an awaiting line of unique, gripping twists, and storyline. The film also manages to keep all these ideas wrapped around a thrilling chain of events of which revolve around these characters. The story unravels, uncovering more, and more events of which tells us, the audience of what our given characters are really capable of, what they can manipulate, how they wrap their head around events, etc. The characters we are given are actually quite interesting. At first, what seems to be another typical bunch of cliché characters, turns into something extremely pleasant, unique, and refreshing. We are given characters with common sense, characters that manage to win over the audiences' care; The feeling of actually caring for what happens to the characters. Finally, on the note, the film manages to give the characters well, clever personality twists, turning them into characters that could've been clichéd, into something much, much more pleasant. Finally. The design, and scares of these creatures, of which were afflicted with said virus aren't your typical, overly clichéd zombies. Instead we get more pleasant surprises with said afflicted creatures possessing interesting behavior, and shocking appearance, delivering an interest to their presence, while giving the audience a sense of fright at the sight, effective, at the same time amazingly captivating.In conclusion, this movie was a huge eye-opener. It manages to feed the audience an entertaining, thrilling, sympathetic, and meaningful horror story of which succeeds in it's effectiveness. It manages to keep a well story, of which takes turns, and unfolds into an even bigger, more interesting story than what we thought we were actually in for, offering more, and more entertaining surprises. At the same time, it manages to keep a scary-like appearance with it's visual infection - themed effects, at the same time giving a well story that captivates. Overall, this movie, IF given a chance, with thought regarding what was given, you will enjoy this movie for what it stood out to be - a unique experience that'll entertain for sure.

I just watched The Hive as part of a one-night-only Fathom theater event. This movie had almost no marketing, which will have made it an incredible moment for those lucky enough to see it on the big screen. I am a big fan of the zombie genre, and The Hive pays homage to Romero's classic use of the genre to focus on human struggles and social constructs within the breakdown of society. There are running themes of individual experience vs. the collective consciousness and isolation vs. the soma-driven release of free will, that hold strong without coming off as preachy or pedantic. There is a bit of a slow burn here, which leave you wondering if the character-development will be worth it, but the plot is tight, and everything becomes relevant within well written climax.Considering the low budget, the gore/make-up effects are excellent, and never take you out of the moment. There are some lighting choices that come together as truly gritty and spectacular. For the horror fans out there, I would more classify this one as more of a gruesome psych-thriller, with more dark humor and creeping insanity than pop-outs and cheap scares. There are definite moments where the acting fell, and where the writing betrays an intelligent audience (a tight plot doesn't need so much spoken internal dialogue), but overall a must VOD, and worth finding the time if Fathom does a second release in theaters. Find it. See it. You won't be disappointed.