Pahanhautoja

Hanna Bergholm’s coming-of-age film HATCHING is a visceral combination of supernatural horror and grim satire that dissects emotional manipulation and mother-daughter dynamics. Tween gymnast Tinja spends most of her time training for an upcoming competition, fighting with her obnoxious little brother, and desperately trying to please her image-obsessed mother. After Tinja discovers a dying bird in the woods, she brings its strange egg home and nurtures it until it hatches. The supernatural creature that emerges, christened “Alli”, becomes Tinja’s only friend and surrogate child. Tinja becomes more and more aware of her own emotions and repression while Alli grows more and more aggressive and grotesque. Before long, Tinja must contend with the disconnect between her newfound maternal instincts and the demands of her own overbearing mother. (Katie Small, Sundance Film Festival)