Horror is traditionally associated with darkness, but sometimes brightness can be even more disturbing. Hatching, a Finnish movie directed by Hanna Bergholm playing at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, joins Ari Aster's Midsommar as one of the rare films to succeed at horror in the daytime. While there are darker scenes, the general aesthetic for much of the film is based around shiny advertisements and Instagram filters. This is the image the movie's central family wishes to present to the world -- an uncanny facsimile of happiness that hides a twisted truth.
Viewers glean that something is deeply wrong with the family during the beginning of Hatching. A crow flies into the house and wrecks the living room. Although 12-year-old gymnast Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) wants to free the bird, her influencer mother (Sophia Heikkilä) snaps its neck. The film follows Tinja growing increasingly aware that her mom isn't the happy together person she presents herself as online. And this isn't the only thing that's growing: Tinja discovers the bird's egg, which she brings to her room and eventually hatches into a giant bird monster.
Whereas the mommy-blogger cinematography of the family scenes is uncanny in its fakeness, the bird monster paradoxically looks more "real" than the rest of the movie. It's a special effect, but a genuinely incredible practical one designed by artists who've worked on Star Wars and Game of Thrones. The scenes of Tinja secretly caring for the grotesque creature play like a David Cronenberg version of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial -- it's a disturbing yet genuine friendship for a girl otherwise forced into a life of false happiness.
The bird monster is easily Hatching's star attraction, so when it eventually evolves into a much less striking form, there's some sense of disappointment. That's not to say the ending of the film is bad. There are plenty of grotesque twists to keep even horror fans who've seen it all on the edge of their seats. The coming-of-age drama centered around realizing both you and your parents aren't the same people you thought they were is also compelling.
Expect Hatching's incredibly dark conclusion to provoke serious debate over what it all means. The final twist is exciting but not traditionally cathartic, requiring various metaphorical lenses to make sense of what the movie is saying. It's possible there's something deep going on here, but it's also possible to just take it in as a creature feature. Bergholm isn't offering any clear-cut solutions to the evils of influencer culture. Bergholm effectively mines the audience's discomfort.
Hatching isn't the best of the horror films playing at Sundance 2022, but it's an entertainingly surreal experience with some clever scares up its sleeve. The monster effects are outstanding, which might be enough to turn it into a cult favorite. You'll likely leave the film wishing you got to spend more time with the freaky big bird. However, the mother-daughter drama keeps the story interesting from beginning to end.
Hatching premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. IFC Midnight will release the film in theaters and on VOD on April 29.