Movie Review: 'Hatching' is One of the Best of the Year

Hatching takes the story of a girl ‘coming out of her shell’ to a frightening and enlightening place. This stylish film from Finland may have a rather blunt metaphor regarding a young woman transitioning into becoming a teenager but that bluntness is part of the disorienting and exciting horror/thriller vibe that director Hanna Bergholm is going for in Hatching. The bluntness is completely intentional and it works like a magic trick to keep you looking one way while you are upended by the style of the storytelling, the frightening metaphoric imagery, and the exceptional use of color.

Hatching stars Siiri Solalinna as 12 year old Tinja. Tinja comes from a seemingly happy and complete home with her mother (Sophia Heikila), her doting father (Jani Volanen), and her annoying little brother. As we join the story, the family is the picture of suburban, upper middle class, perfection. Then a raven slams into a glass door. When Tinja innocently goes to check on the bird, it comes flying inside and wreaks havoc before Mother snaps the bird’s neck.

That night, Tinja believes that she hears the bird calling to her. When she goes to check on the bird, she finds it not where the body had been disposed of. She still hears the bird calling to her and she follows it into the woods. Seeing that the bird is still badly injured, she crushes it with a rock in a shockingly violent and bloody flourish. Soon after, Tinja notices a bird’s egg not far from where the Raven had fallen. Assuming the egg to be that of the Raven, Tinja takes it home to care for it.

The egg grows larger just as Tinja’s home life begins to show significant cracks. Mom begins seeing another man, Tero (Reino Nordin), in full view of Tinja’s father. Mother even begins to brag to her daughter about falling in love for the first time, which is as messed up as it sounds, and the pressure that mother puts on Tinja to succeed in gymnastics places further strain on the already fragile young girl on the cusp of womanhood. All of this happens as the egg grows larger and hatches and you will need to see Hatching to see where this story is going.

Hatching was directed by Hanna Bergholm who conceived of this coming of age story, with writer Iljta Rautsi, as a creature feature. The creature in question is a sight, a puppet crafted by designer Gustav Hoegen, an exceptional horror creation that evolves into something utterly brilliant and exciting. The way the creature is used, its ever evolving design and motivation provides a real charge in the second act into a shocking and extraordinary third act that took my breath away at several different points.

You can probably sense the metaphor at play, even as I am dancing around it as much as I can to preserve many of the surprises, twists and turns of Hatching. Regardless of what I have already described as a blunt metaphor, it’s an effective blunt metaphor that underlines the incidents at play. These are extraordinary horror/thriller sequences with genuine suspense and terror as they play out. Hatching plays out in a mere 87 minutes and each is charged with energy in the production design, creature design and Hanna Bergholm’s extraordinary direction.

Credit also to star Siiri Solalinna who brings an authentic innocence and growing awareness in her performance. It’s really two performances at odds with each other which would be a challenge to a veteran actor. Solaliina does an amazing job of giving life to the duality of Tinja and her alter-ego that you will need to see the movie to fully understand. She’s only 12 years old and her performance is brave, bold, and exciting to watch.

Ilja Rautsi is credited with the terrific screenplay that provides the foundation for Director Hanna Bergholm’s remarkable visual style which uses bright whites and pastel colors that are shattered by the black of the Raven and the red of the Raven’s blood. The heightened bright colors contrast and clash hyper emotions at play in the conflict of mother and daughter, the conflict of pre-teen and teen identities, and the conflict of a body and hormones rapidly changing the emotional state of an already fragile young mind.

Hatching is remarkably sensitive to Tinja’s state and yet director Hanna Bergholm fearlessly uses that sensitive story to create genuine, horror movie scares that stick with you and a tension that is at times relentless. It’s a deft and inventive piece of direction that never sacrifices character details in favor of the horror story being told. Rather, all the character details are needed for the horror elements to work. Far too many modern horror films forget that what makes something frightening is not mere shadows or viscera, but characters we invest in and care about it.

Hatching is one of the best in what is becoming a great year at the movies. The film opens in limited release on Friday, April 29th, with a planned digital release in Mid-May. Keep an eye out for this remarkable movie.