Wow was Hatching an intense thrill ride and a movie I have been recommending to all my friends and family since I saw it. I will admit that I am pretty ignorant of the world of Finnish cinema, but after watching this horror masterpiece, I am certainly open to watching more Finnish movies, especially those of the horror variety.
How to Stream or Download Hatching
At some point in time, you should be able To stream or to download the film from a digital store. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability. If you like horror films, check out also our reviews of Insidious: The Last Key and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
The Movie Review
This is one of the smartest most unique horror movies I have so far seen in 2022. While this is a horror movie that will certainly send shivers up your spine, I also feel that Hatching has an interesting bit of social commentary going on as well. Before you roll your eyes at that, it is not heavy-handed and I am sure it will go over some people’s heads.
The story is about a family where the mother is a bit of a social media superstar thanks to her blog. The reason her blog is so popular is the family dynamic that it showcases. She has the whole family in on this blog, most notably her daughter, Tinja. Tinja is 12 years old, she is a promising gymnast and she is willing to try and do anything for her mother’s approval.
Many movies over the last few years have looked at the way social media can rule some people’s lives. It is quite interesting how fake and how much of a show people will put on for social media and Hatching plays into that big time. Putting on big fake smiles, pretending everyone is best friends and super happy all the time. That is basically what we have here with the mother’s blog.
They do a great job of making you not like the mother. From the way that the mother pushes what she wishes she had done onto Tinja to the way, she treats her husband and Tina’s brother. I think that you really do feel for Tinja very early on and you will find her an easy character to empathize with.
One night a bird smashes through the window and the mother kills it and asks Tinja to get rid of it. This leads to a strange happening where Tinja comes across a very strange-looking egg that she decides to care for. This is no ordinary egg as it starts to grow at an incredible rate and Tinja calls it Alli.
I am not going to spoil what comes out of this egg as the reveal is freaking awesome and had my jaw on the floor. Let’s just say the thing that comes out of this egg embraces all of the emotions that Tinja has been suppressing in order to please her mother and make sure that she is happy.
We get some pretty messed up stuff and the fact that Hatching is put into the “body horror” subcategory gives you a kind of idea of what you can expect here. The special effects are very well done and there is some pretty gruesome stuff here which I thought was very, very cool!
For fans of horror movies, Hatching really is a must-watch. I watched this and then was desperate for a few friends to watch it so I had someone to talk to about it. The movie is not perfect as in a couple of places the pacing really slows down for what feels like no reason at all. However, this was a great watch and one that I would most certainly watch again.
