Nightborn

Finnish director Hanna Bergholm made a splash on the festival circuit in 2022 with her feature debut Hatching, a peculiar subversion of the image of the “perfect family”.

She’s on similar turf with her second feature Nightborn (Yön lapsi, lit. “Child of the Night”), which is already primed to travel far and wide after its Berlinale debut (per the opening credits, it will certainly get a US boost from the horror-themed streaming platform Shudder). As well it should, for while it’s not quite as idiosyncratic as Bergholm’s previous film, it’s still a good piece of Nordic genre entertainment.

The action unfolds in an unspecified Finnish locale, more exactly in the middle of a forest (the film was shot on location in Lithuania). Here we get to meet Saga (Seidi Haarla, discovered internationally in Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6) and Jon (Rupert Grint, once again committing to the genre space in the post-Harry Potter phase of his career), a couple who have decided to relocate to the house where she spent much of her childhood. Some work needs to be done before it’s in inhabitable shape again, but the shared mood is generally one of excitement.

The two have euphoric sex out in the open, as Saga says, “Make me a mother.” Lo and behold, nine months later, she gives birth to a baby boy. The child is seemingly healthy, if unusually hairy, while the mother needs to recover due to labor complications (complete with one full frontal shot that will probably give the US ratings board a headache or two). As time passes, Saga – whose name, ironically, means “fairytale” in certain Nordic languages – starts to think something’s wrong with the baby, to the point she continues referring to her son as “it” instead of “him”. Perhaps it’s connected to local folklore and superstitions her own grandmother believed in…

While there are sporadic appearances by a supporting cast which includes the acclaimed writer and actress Pirkko Saisio (Orenda), at its core Nightborn is a two-hander between Haarla and Grint. Those who still think of the latter as the easily frightened Ron Weasley are in for a surprise as he tackles a role rooted in a rational, largely unflappable personality. Conversely, Haarla, who was very reserved in her breakthrough performance, gets to go very big as Saga’s state of mind begins to worsen. And yet, beneath the shouting and grimacing, there’s always an emotional sincerity that keeps things engaging, even as the more recognizable horror tropes start piling up (whereas Hatching refused to signpost anything, this time around there’s a bit more expository dialogue about halfway through the movie).

The humor doesn’t always land, at least not when it tries to be a bit broader (by the third time Jon mentions stereotypical Finnish behavior, you’d think this was a movie based on the Very Finnish Problems social media pages). When it blends with the horror, however, it produces an abundance of darkly tinged gags that go hand in hand with the twisted examination of motherhood that is at the film’s center. Because even when it veers towards the mainstream, Bergholm’s vision of cinema is still unquestionably her own, cheerfully lurking in its own little corner in an isolated house until it’s time to deliver the visual punches. And deliver she most certainly does.

Director: Hanna Bergholm
Screenwriter: Ilja Rautsi, Hanna Bergholm
Cast: Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey, John Thomson
Producers: Daniel Kuitunen, Noëmie Devide
Cinematography: Pietari Peltola
Production design: Kari Kankanpää
Costume design: Tiina Kaukanen
Music: Eicca Toppinen
Sound: Alazne Ameztoy, Álex F. Capilla, Nacho Royo-Villanova
Production companies: Elokuvayhtiö Komeetta Oy, Getaway Films, Filmai LT, Bluelight Nightborn Limited
World sales: Goodfellas
Venue: Berlinale (Competition)
In Finnish, English
92 minutes