The film follows Richard, a 15-year-old boy with learning difficulties who lives in a shabby caravan with his older brother, Polly.

He forms a strong friendship with rebellious 17-year-old Annabel, whose family have recently acquired the farmland on which the brothers live.

A growing conflict with the new landowners will lead to a situation that severely tests Richard's natural optimism, as the world of privilege collides with the brothers' precarious, marginalised existence.

[3] Leslie Felperin of The Guardian scored the film at three out of five, and said "first-time director Joe Stephenson elicits lively, empathic performances from his small cast".

[6] With a three-star rating from Cath Clarke of Time Out, she commented that Chicken is "an impressively acted British Drama about a young man with learning difficulties".