Young Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) finds a wounded bird in the forest and after giving it a brutal mercy killing with a rock discovers a single egg in its nest. Taking it home she keeps it warm and nurtures it until a grotesque creature emerges that she develops a special bond with. 

Hatching is a creature feature about an overbearing mother who is destroying her daughters life. The emotional trauma imparted on her resulting in bulimia and a mental break down. All played out in her mind to her nursing a grotesque disfigured bird like human in the way that she would like her mother to do so to her. 

Or it is about a hideous creature that parasitically attaches itself to a host that it can slowly replace and be raised by its parents. A cuckoo perhaps? 

The result is a film that features two outstanding performances and some low budget practical effects that work very well if their intent is to be incredibly creepy. Siiri Solalinna does an exceptional job of playing a troubled and downtrodden young girl. Some of the scenes she is in are pretty dark and I have to say I am very intrigued how they kept those moments light on set given her age. Alongside her is Sophia Heikkila as her mother and she is really terrific. A woman who is so obsessed with putting on the appearance of being the perfect woman with a perfect family she has a video blog showing exactly that. Pushing her child to be a winning gymnast because her dreams of being a champion ice skater were cut short. 

At 86 minutes long debut feature film writer/director Hanna Bergholm has delivered a creepy and clever horror flick that will keep you thinking. 

One footnote is that I watched this at a secret screening at my local cinema and the experience was terrible. I counted no less than 44 people walk out across the first 30 minutes and some of the horror moments were greeted with big laughs. Given that the viewing experience was so distracted and I was still impressed by the film shows its power.