Nightborn Review: Rupert Grint's Foray into Finnish Horror Proves Disappointing
Finnish director Hanna Bergholm's 2022 debut Hatching established her as a distinctive voice in body horror, delivering a witty and psychologically complex study of family dysfunction through the metaphor of a giant, creepy egg. That film's exploration of fertility and domestic tension felt both unnerving and plausible. With her follow-up feature Nightborn (also known as Yön Lapsi), Bergholm attempts to revisit similar thematic territory but produces a far less compelling result.
A Programmatic and Unsubtle Retread of Familiar Ideas
Nightborn presents itself as a scary movie about a monstrous newborn, but it lacks the originality and depth that made Hatching so effective. The film's paganism elements come across as cliched, while its attempts at black comedy—often used as an excuse for lack of genuine scares in this genre—fail to land with any real humor. The visual effects model of the screeching devil-baby remains mostly hidden from the audience, a choice that feels less like a disturbing artistic decision and more like an admission that the prop would not withstand close scrutiny.
The Story of Saga and Jon's Domestic Nightmare
The narrative follows Saga (played by Seidi Haarla) and her stolid British husband Jon (Rupert Grint) as they move into Saga's dilapidated family home in the remote Finnish forest. Their plan involves renovating the property to create an ideal environment for raising a large family—a project that realistically would take years but which they somehow accomplish in about two weeks. Saga becomes mysteriously drawn to the vital, subterranean forces pulsating in the surrounding forest darkness.
After passionate encounters in these woods, the couple's resulting baby is not a normal child but a brutal, hirsute, bloodsucking troll. This monstrous offspring proceeds to destroy both Saga's marriage and her happiness, plunging her into a nightmare from which there appears to be no escape.
Supporting Characters Offer Little Solace
Saga's mother, portrayed with unsentimental practicality by Pirkko Saisio, proves remarkably callous, casually mentioning that Saga herself was a vampiric, nutrition-sucking nightmare as an infant. Jon's parents, played by John Thomson and Rebecca Lacey, offer little more support; his father, a clergyman, insists on baptizing the monstrous child in a fireside ceremony that yields ghastly consequences.
A Descent into Unrelenting Grief
Unlike Mia Farrow's character in Rosemary's Baby, who eventually reaches a period of calm acceptance, Saga finds no such respite. The film leads her—and the audience—to nothing but grief, with few moments of relief or resolution. While there are occasional amusing moments, Nightborn ultimately feels like a significant step backward from the excellence of Hatching.
The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, where it failed to generate the same critical excitement as Bergholm's debut. For viewers familiar with her previous work, Nightborn stands as a disappointing follow-up that recycles ideas without capturing their original power or subtlety.
