A One Mann’s Movies review of “Nightborn”. (From the 2026 London Film Festival). (2026, 3,5*, NR).
Original title: Yön lapsi
The last film from the twisted mind of Hanna Bergholm was 2022’s Hatching, which I really liked: so much so I gave it 4.5 stars. Now Bergholm is back with Nightborn: an even more twisted tale. We’ve been here lots before – a cottage in a spooky wood – but Bergholm manages to up the ante with a spooky baby!
I had the great honour of being a special guest on a Movie Bread Club podcast special covering the LFF last night (which should be available to listen to in a few days). On the pod we were discussing inappropriate films to watch while pregnant or giving birth. Well, this is one that you could definitely add to that list. It’s a neo-natal horror story.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
The married couple – Finn Saga (Seidi Haarla) and English Jon (Rupert Grint) – start their married life in their deceased grandma’s old dilapidated house in the forests of Finland. The house is in such a state that there is a tree growing out of the lounge floor! While Saga is pregnant, they renovate the house. But when their child Kuura is born, the family face an entirely new set of challenges.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (This film has not yet received a classification by the BBFC, but I would expect it to be a 15, and possibly even an 18, based on violence, gore, strong language and upsetting scenes.)
Talent:
Starring: Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey, John Thomson, Silvia Saloranta.
Directed by: Hanna Bergholm.
Written by: Hanna Bergholm, Ilja Rautsi. (Based on a story by Hanna Bergholm.)
Running Time: 1h 31m.
Review:
Positives:
- This has all the requisite elements of a folk horror. A creepy location, creepy sounds, a couple alone in the woods. It’s all done very well. If only they’d understood the number one rule of Finnish folk horror: when Saga begs “Make me a mother”, Jon should have known better…. NEVER have sex in the spooky woods!
- For when the baby comes (a truly-over-the top dramatic birth) the film shifts into spook-central territory. The baby (which I thought was CGI, but which seems to be represented by 14 different children representing Kuura at birth, 4 months, 9 months and 12 months) is about the creepiest thing I’ve seen at the cinema in 2026. A child with rapid development and a love of black pudding! The connection between the baby and the woods is nicely done (with the wind in the trees soothing the child to sleep).
- Seidi Haarla, who I don’t think I’ve seen in anything before, is excellent as the continually stressed and exhausted Saga, desperately trying to breast feed her infant while trying to stop her nipples being chewed off! This is an extreme case of Mother-Infant Bonding Disorder: Saga hates her baby, calling it “it” instead of “him”.
- At 91 minutes, it really doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Negatives:
- A lot of the gore in this is really quite icky… I am inured to a lot of horror stuff, but the combination of the creepiness and the gore – particularly in the over-the-top finale – was a bit much even for me.
- I mean, can there be any other actor that has struggled to escape from his most famous role? But Rupert Grint is cursed with the job that made him his millions. I’m afraid I was still: “oh look, Ron’s having sex in the woods”; “now Ron is getting splattered with baby food”; “now Ron is…” well, never mind with that spoiler. He doesn’t help himself by keeping his ginger hair. If I was him, I’d be growing his facial hair into even more of a bushy, bushy beard and dye everything jet black. Or go the Marvel route and hit the prosthetics hard!
Summary Thoughts:
I really didn’t enjoy this as much as Hatching, but it is still an entertaining Finnish romp. I’ve found myself for the last few days singing the old music hall song “Any old iron, any old iron, any any any old iron” to myself, for reasons that the film will make clear. If you like creepy, gory horror, I think you might like this.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWePsu_Kd9c.
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