Hatching (Pahanhautoja)

Wednesday 22 May at 7.30pm

Hanna Bergholm | Finland/Sweden | 2022 | 87 mins | R16 horror, violence & animal cruelty

A young gymnast copes with her demanding mother by caring for a large oversized egg in this wicked Finnish satire that is part body horror and part creature feature.

“Twelve-year-old Tinja goes through her stretching exercises, aspiring to earn the last competition spot on her gymnastics squad, while her mother flits about with a selfie stick, flaunting her flawless family and idyllic suburban home for her popular blog “Lovely Everyday Life.” However, this charming veneer proves all too fragile when a squawking crow crashes through a window, laying waste to the chandelier and all stemware in its flight path. Tinja captures the bird only for her mother to vindictively snap its neck. Returning the dead bird to the nearby forest for burial, she discovers a strange egg and brings it home, where it grows to gargantuan size. When it hatches, a bird-like creature emerges, christened Alli, who immediately becomes Tinja’s inseparable friend… Yet as Alli morphs, growing ever bolder, she reveals herself to be a nightmarish mirror of Tinja’s inner darkness. In her feature film debut, Hanna Bergholm draws inspiration from Grimms’ fairy tales, Tim Burton, and Angela Carter to craft an entertainingly surreal yet beautifully grotesque coming-of-age fable.”– Dan Doody, Seattle International Film Festival 2022