Running Time: 90 Minutes
Starring: Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey, John Thomson, Silvia Saloranta
Back in 2022, Finnish director Hanna Bergholm made an impressive feature debut with Hatching, a tale of toxic parenting which involved a young girl caring for a giant egg. Four-years later, the director follows up her work with Nightborn, and while it's another story involving motherhood seen through a more fantastical lens, this is very much its own entity.
Viewers first see a car driving up a path in the woods. While Jon (Rupert Grint) is enchanted by the surroundings, his wife Saga (Seidi Haarla) reflects nostalgically on the sights from her past. The couple arrive at a hidden house in disrepair, which is actually Saga's childhood home. It may have boarded up windows, leaves covering the floor inside, and rusting junk surrounding the outside, but it symbolises the couple's hopes for the future. The house may need fixing up, but that is a job the pair are ready to undertake. Cut to nine-months later, as Saga gives birth to a hairy baby who breathes heavily and cries loudly. The new mother's joy disappears as the baby grows more troll-like, with a hunger that seems to only be satisfied by blood. As a chilling suspicion grows about her newborn, her marriage to Jon begins to crumble.
From early on, returning to her family home clearly means a lot to Saga. There is real joy initially, as she reacquaints herself with the layout from her past while planning for the future. There are admittedly moments when it can feel too corny, like a scene of Saga and Jon mucking about in the woods. It can feel like an attempt too far to convince viewers about the familial happiness, as it comes off as an overcorrection.
Perhaps that is fitting, as an overcorrection is the same thing that Saga is attempting. We get an insight into the relationship with her mother, who appears to be quite hardened without a hint of warmness. One moment has Saga listening to a story about the trouble she caused as a child, with her mother's recollections leaving one wondering if this is the first time that mother and daughter have bonded. It feels like the new mother is trying to bring alive a relationship that she longed for as a child, recapturing her nostalgic home in the hopes of making kinder memories that she can look back on with fondness.
But that does not go the way she desires, as the strange situation leaves Saga constantly on-edge with her baby. The child seems to be draining the life out of the new mother, something that comes alongside constant wailing in the light, and bad reactions to iron. What Bergholm and co-writer Ilja Rautsi craft is a tale approaching post-partum depression through a troll metaphor. It blends body-horror elements, which are effectively brought alive with lots of blood, alongside a psychological aspect, as it preys on Saga's mind about how reality has not met her expectations. A notable moment sees her reconnecting with her former work colleagues, only to feel left out as they talk about not really knowing the new mother, and praising her replacement. It's clearly a hell of a time for Saga, and Seidi Haarla tremendously brings it all alive.
This life in crisis through otherworldly means resembles a fantastical take on Lynne Ramsay's Die My Love, although the end results are less effective. For anybody who has grown weary of horror stories which lay on the metaphor, I'm doubtful this will be the one that changes your mind. While Hatching felt so distinctive and intriguing, this rough and sticky approach to newfound motherhood feels at times interchangeable with its peers. Perhaps this will resonate more with people who have been in a similar situation to Saga (minus the troll element), but I can only comment on my reaction, and I felt it was retreading on familiar ground with less success.
Central to this is Saga's relationship with Jon, the well-meaning husband who is constantly trying to be supportive, even if he does over-correct a bit much. The performances ensure that you believe in this couple, whose love for each other is troubled by issues they face as parents. It is telling that the baby is often seen shadowed, as though it is a lurking presence to disrupt rather than a newborn child to be loved. But, even as this couple have such love and understanding, the circumstances leave them growing more short with each other. By the third act, tempers flare and hurtful things are said, leaving it in question whether this familial unit can be mended. It all makes for an intriguing, if unremarkable, work in Nightborn.
Nightborn made its North American Premiere at Fantasia Festival 2026. Available now on Shudder in the U.S.
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