I first got to discover director Hanna Bergholm with her debut film, Hatching, in 2022 as part of virtual Sundance, and instantly fell in love with her direction, writing, and prowess. So, when it was announced that Hanna and her screenwriting partner Ilja Rautsi (Hatching) had another movie that also focused on the horrors of being a parent, I was seated. Their sophomore feature together, Nightborn (Yön lapsi), while great, feels like a step down. Maybe it’s because expectations created by Hatching were too high or just how much darker and more disturbing the world’s become since, but the reason why is hard to pin down. It’s still viscerally disturbing and uncanny and uncomfortable to watch, but it just lacks that everlasting impact that her first feature had. Having its North American Premiere in the Cheval Noir section of Fantasia 2026, Nightborn, while still entertaining, leaves the boundaries hardly pushed and the audience undoubtedly wanting something more.
L-R: Seidi Haarla as Saga and Rupert Grint as Jon in Hanna Bergholm’s NIGHTBORN. Photo Credit: Pietari Peltola. An Independent Film Company Release.
Nightborn starts off in a Finnish forest with Saga (Seidi Haarla) and her husband, Jon (Rupert Grint), starting their journey to be parents, and then quickly cuts to the hospital nine months later for what can only be described as one of the most visceral and horrifying birthing scenes in a recent feature film. When they return to their home, Saga’s childhood home isolated deep within the forest, Saga knows something is off, despite everyone’s assurances, including Jon’s, that everything’s fine. This and Saga not telling Jon of her suspicions lead towards a lot of tension between her and Jon.
Nightborn is an excellent examination on motherhood, maternal love, and fear of being a parent, in general. There is a lot going for the film and, while it teeters on the line of “uncomfortable but cannot look away,” it never crosses that line and, thusly, leaves the audience ultimately satisfied but wishing they had their dessert, too.
L-R: Rupert Grint as Jon and Seidi Haarla as Saga in Hanna Bergholm’s NIGHTBORN. Photo Credit: Pietari Peltola. An Independent Film Company Release.
For Hanna Bergholm’s visions to work, the cast needs to be all-in and expressive. Her well-written scripts always ask for a lot out of the actors — delivering lines, portraying passion, capturing all of the subtleties in the underlying love, understanding, and horror throughout. Haarla (Compartment No. 6) and Grint (Knock at the Cabin) deliver on all of that along with the brilliance of the unspoken word. The depths of their performances are accentuated by excellent composition by Eicca Toppinen (Aquarela) and cinematography by Pietari Peltola (Dogs Don’t Wear Pants), eliciting true horror that will certainly unnerve the audience.
Seidi Haarla in Hanna Bergholm’s NIGHTBORN. Photo Credit: Pietari Peltola. An Independent Film Company Release.
Firstly, the undying performance from Seidi is just remarkable and incredible. The sheer terror on her face the second her son is born, and relief when she realizes he’s okay, transforming into disarray when she realizes something is wrong, is brilliant. The slow intricacies of her performances as she slowly is accepting and, reluctantly so, acknowledging that something is wrong with her son, but refusing to say anything, lives and dies in her face. Her husband will be consoling her, and then we have a shot watching her and her eyes are just filled with dread, fear, and anxiety, and we see her looking in their son’s room.
Meanwhile, we have Jon, who’s trying his best to hold his newly formed family together, blissfully ignorant, oblivious, and increasingly frustrated that his wife seems to have resentment for their baby. Grint’s performance is understated as he shows how Jon’s trying to be understanding and helpful while never truly understanding what’s going on.
Rupert Grint as Jon in Hanna Bergholm’s NIGHTBORN. Photo Credit: Nikita Sevcov. An Independent Film Company Release.
From a technical and acting perspective, Nightborn has all the makings of an absolute classic. However, Nightborn feels like a pseudo sequel to Bergholm and Rautsi’s previous outing as it deals with similar themes and tribulations, setting an expectation for it to match the tone and pace, which it does not. If one has never seen Hatched, Nightborn may play better as there are not set expectations, but having been enthralled and disturbed by the previous work, the swings and risks that are taken throughout Nightborn just feel like rehashed ideas swept up from the cutting room floor of the previous film.
Screening during Fantasia International Film Festival 2026.
Available on Shudder July 31st, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Fantasia International Film Festival Nightborn webpage.
Final Score: 3.75 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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