Hatching

Title: Hatching
Director: Hanna Bergholm
Released: 2022
Starring: Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä, Jani Volanen, Reino Nordin

Plot: When a young girl finds a mysterious egg in the woods she brings it home only for it to soon start growing to monstrous size.

Review: Set in an idyllic Finnish suburb where a wannabe influencer mom (Heikkila) furthers this illusion of perfection as she crafts videos about her family’s life when of course she’s not trying to mould her daughter Tinja (Solalinna) into being a successful gymnast. It’s a life ripe for disruption which is exactly what happens when Tinja finds a mysterious egg amongst the towering pine trees of the woods which surround her the pristine estate her family live on. The egg however soon starts growing to monstrous size before hatching a creature set on tearing the family serenity apart. 

The debut film of Hanna Bergholm who here crafts an feisty and frequently suprising creature feature reminiscent of Vincenzo Natali’s Splice as what starts off as a weirdly touching story of a girl and her mutant crow friend soon evolves into somthing much darker. The film moving from innocent beginings she names the creature Alli and hides in her room from her family as it provides her with the comfort and affection that she struggles to find in her family life between her self centred mother, workaholic father and bratty younger brother. However problems only continue to grow for Tinja as Alli continues to grow bigger and having telepathically bonded with Tinja soon sets out targeting anything that it believes is causing her harm. 

Shot using practical effects from Gustav Hoegen whose animatronic credits include Prometheus and utterly bonkers The Nutcracker In 3D. Bergholm further adds to her crew with Conor O’Sullivan doing special effects make-up and who was also responsible for creating the Joker make up for The Dark Knight. Unquestionably both are used to great effect here especially with Alli constantly evolving though into what I won’t spoil for you here. 

Blending in some surprisingly effective jump scares, gooey body horror as well as bursts of violence which come often without warning to disrupt the illusion of perfect family life that Tinja’s mother is so keen to maintain. Surprisingly it’s this mother daughter relationship which proves to be one of the most engrossing aspects of the film, especially in how shameless she is in pushing in pursuing her own happiness as she drives her daughter to train till her hands blister while carrying on an affair with her “Special Friend” Tero (Nordin). 

Balancing so many different elements in the same film Bergholm crafts an intriguing debut film which manages to constantly be surprising especially when you think you have it worked out as she builds to a haunting climax.