Hatching Review

Hatching review.

Pahanhautoja made its way over from Finland in 2022 courtesy of Hulu. Of course, by the time it got here they called it Hatching. That’s not just a translated title. Google translate tells me that pahanhautoja translates to malevolent in English. Either way…the movie itself translates very well in any language.

Classic movie review may contain spoilers.

Hatching

Directed by Hanna Bergholm

Written by Iija Rautsi

Starring Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä, Jani Volanen, Reino Nordin and Saija Lentonen

Hatching Review

Hatching does an impressive job providing a rich, full story around a concept I’m never completely sure it ever figured out. That might sound contradictory…but it’s the best way I can describe this entertaining movie that doesn’t always make sense.

Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) is a 12-year-old gymnast plagued by various troubles. After she disposes of a bird that has flown into her family’s home, Tinja takes the egg it left behind to care for it. The egg quickly grows to a massive size and hatches a giant birdlike creature. Tinja hides the creature, who she names Alli, from her family and cares for it herself. Alli begins to act on Tinja’s behalf…dealing with the emotions she can’t express in violent ways. As Alli grows she begins to resemble Tinja more and more until she becomes a near identical twin.

Sometimes movies make odd story choices in service of creating a strange atmosphere to set their story in. Hatching seems to make odd story choices arbitrarily. They’re never the main story beats. Those are well paced and strongly plotted. The side story of Tinja’s family dynamics, however, are just plain strange.

Tinja’s mother is all over the map in this story. She’s given a subplot of openly cheating on her husband with a recent widower. This seems to exist solely to put a couple of different characters in believable danger later. She’s incredibly demanding of Tinja in her gymnastics…and presents a faux happiness about her perfect life on social media. She’s quick to blame Tinja for ruining her happiness…but equally protective of her. It’s impossible to follow what she’s thinking from scene to scene.

This isn’t really a negative, mind you. It plays into Tinja’s character having to deal with hardships left and right. Tinja doesn’t deal with much of it, mind you. That’s what Alli is there for. Alli is connected to Tinja in a way that allows her to feel what Tinja feels. Tinja is adept at repressing things. Alli lets it all loose. Once Tinja is aware of Alli’s penchant for killing what is bothering her…she does her best to prevent further damage. But Tinja’s emotions have a way of getting the better of Alli the more pressure she puts herself under.

The Alli effects start off feeling kind of silly. The giant eyed bird creature pushes the envelope on taking things seriously about as far as it can get away with. Thankfully, that only lasts for a short while. As Alli evolves she does so in a way that becomes genuinely creepy with far better effects.

Hatching is more interested in creating a sense of impending doom than it is jump scares. There are a couple of the latter, but when it’s working…it’s because of the helpless feeling Tinja has with Alli running loose on the things that upset her. It’s really a simple story of being able to understand emotions. Tinja can’t process hers in a way that gives her an outlet. Alli can’t process them at all. All Alli understands is taking revenge on the things that upset Tinja.

What we end up with is a unique movie that teeters perilously close to falling off the rails but never quite does. Performances are largely strong and the Alli character evolved into an effective antagonist. Odd choices in the background distract more than aid the atmosphere but even those choices provide us with something fresh to take in. Hatching doesn’t bury anything in subtext. But it does let unnecessary questions get in the way of a great creature feature.

Scare Value

A somewhat silly setup with slightly silly effects turns into something seriously effective by the end. Hatching makes some strange calls along the way, specifically with the family dynamic. How you should feel about some of the characters can be confusing at times. Complex characters are a positive but Hatching seemingly chooses their actions randomly at times. That aside, this is an enjoyable time with a fun story that turns impressively dark.

3.5/5