Notable Cast: Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola,
Pirkko Saisio
To this day, motherhood remains one of horror's most fertile
concepts. Whether it leans into the body horror of it all, the psychological
terror, or just some of the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and the years
after raising a child, motherhood just remains one of the best cinematic ways
to link a human experience with horror. Becoming a mother fully encapsulates
the physical, mental, moral, and social expectations placed on women. Each
aspect has its own story and can go horrifically awry, and combining them all
into one? Oof. And that’s just reality. That’s not even a movie.
Finnish writer and director Hanna Bergholm focused on the
relationships between mother and daughter in her debut feature-length horror
film, Hatching, which managed to craft a creature feature (complete with
incredible creature designs and special effects) from a relationship drama told
from a young girl’s perspective on her relationship with her mother and the
roles they play.
For her follow-up, Bergholm aims for similar territory, but from the mother’s perspective. Nightborn, originally titled Yön lapsi, aims to dissect and showcase the horrors of motherhood with a slight folk-horror angle, but never loses sight of its bigger messages around its main character, and adds slick dark humor throughout. It’s a wildly strong union that feels distinctive to the director and its perspective, with incredible production design choices, but it rings true universally in its lens on motherhood.