NIGHTBORN
Filmmaker Hanna Bergholm brings Fantasia 2026 audiences a twisted tale of motherhood and Finnish folk horror in NIGHTBORN. Newlywed couple Saga and Jon arrive at Saga’s childhood home in Finland. It is an enchanting, if not slightly spooky, house hidden deep in the eerily shaped woods. Following the birth of their son, motherhood proves challenging when Saga suspects her child is not like other babies.
Written by Ilja Rautsi and Bergholm, the script cleverly combines tropes, such as the language barrier, with the real-life, unfiltered physical horrors of birth and motherhood. Unless you’ve experienced the very real blood, sweat, and tears that Saja goes through in the first 15 minutes of the film, one might think they are exaggerated.
The emotional exhaustion of being another creature’s lifeblood is often overwhelming. The constant realization that survival depends on your every moment of attention can be too much. Family members try to help, but can unintentionally make things worse. Rautsi and Bergholm play upon a mother’s inherent instincts. They give Saga enhanced hearing and a supernatural connection to the surrounding woods.
On the other hand, Rautsi and Bergholm give her family members a deep loathing for Saga that the audience does not relate to. These jarring revelations make the viewer question reality even further, as we have no basis for these accusations. Stories from her childhood, as told by her mother and sister, present as nasty. But are they true? We never know.
Production design is extraordinary. Beyond the forest’s gnarled humanoid likeness, the nursery is a mix of gothic whimsy one might see in Architectural Digest. Any 90s witchy tween will be in heaven at the sight of each carefully curated element. Practical effects are beautifully gagworthy. Yes. Yes. Yes. Birth is a miracle, blah, blah, blah, but it’s almost visceral and revolting. Anyone who tells you different is a damn liar. Talk to me after you have a C-section, thank you very much.
Rupert Grint is a proud father and fish out of water as Jon. Grint does his best impression of calm and supportive while clearly flailing in fear and helplessness. Grint has become a genre icon, ironically in stories revolving around “special” children. Seidi Haarla is sheer perfection as a mother on the verge of insanity. Her feral performance is the stuff of cinematic dreams. Along the lines of Inde Navarrette in Obsession, women in horror earn every ounce of respect and need to be called out for their vulnerability and badassery. Bravo Seidi.
We do not see Kuura’s face for 99% of the film, sneakily adding to the contextual weight. The audience feels the dizzying gaslighting and emotional state of Saga. Rautsi and Bergholm give audiences a lived-in authenticity of outside judgment and sacrifices of a mother. NIGHTBORN is a genre-inspired manifestation of nature vs nurture. Mothers will do anything for their offspring.
Synopsis
With dreams of starting a perfect family, Saga (Seidi Haarla, Compartment No. 6) and her British husband Jon (Rupert Grint, Knock at the Cabin) move to the isolated house where she spent much of her childhood, deep in the Finnish forest. But as soon as their baby is born, despite the reassurance of all around her, Saga knows there’s something terribly wrong with her son. As their marriage starts to crack, Jon struggles to support his wife, but only Saga suspects the terrible truth about her newborn.
From the director of Hatching, NIGHTBORN is a visceral, gripping and terrifying dark fable about motherhood and unconditional maternal love.
About the Director
Hanna Bergholm is a Finnish film director. Her debut feature film, horror drama Hatching, had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2022 and has been sold to over 75 countries. Rotten Tomatoes named Hatching the 8th Best Horror Movie of 2022 in the Golden Tomato Awards. At film festivals Hatching has won awards and nominations including the Grand Prize and Youth Jury Award at the Gérardmer film festival in France, award for the best special effects in Sitges and three Jussi Awards in Finland. Previously Bergholm has directed internationally awarded short films and TV drama series.
Director: Hanna Bergholm
Screenwriters: Ilja Rautsi and Hanna Bergholm
Cast: Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey, John Thomson, Silvia Saloranta
Producer: Daniel Kuitunen
Executive Producers: Brahim Chioua, Nick Shumaker, David Levine, Scott Shooman, Emily Gotto
Cinematographer: Pietari Peltola
Editor: Jussi Rautaniemi
Language: English, Finnish
Runtime: 92 mins
V/H/S/HALLOWEEN
Another glorious notch in the V/H/S/ franchise, Shudder presents the Halloween version.
Previously, each film played out in a single time period. Based on the reference in Coochie Coochie Coo, that segment takes place in the aughts, but KidPrint specifies 1992, and Home Haunt must occur in the 80s. That’s a nice departure from the rest of the films. Sticking to tradition, each movie features a homebase framework to work around. In V/H/S/HALLOWEEN, it’s a lab that disguises itself as a focus group company in a segment called “Diet Phantasma.” Ghost-infused soda wreaks havoc on its tasters. Bryan M. Ferguson strings us along for a gore-tastic good time.
In “Coochie Coochie Coo,” two high school seniors celebrate their final Halloween together with utter shenanigans. After entering a particularly creepy house, the girls find themselves trapped and tormented. Filmmaker Anna Zlokovic brings a local urban legend to life. With touches of Barbarian, it is undeniably disturbing.
“Fun Size” finds filmmaker Casper Kelly following two couples trying to find the best treats on the block. When a lone bowl filled with candy they’ve never heard of sucks them into a portal. This one is captured via a GoPro camera attached to the couple dressed as found footage characters, literally. Now, in some demented candy factory, Fun Size is the most campy, laugh-out-loud mindfuck.
Alex Ross Perry‘s “KidPrint” tells the tale of a small town with a child serial killer. Tim, the electronic store owner and KidPrint consenesuer (short videos identifying kids in case they go missing), always has a camcorder running. This year, festivities are run by the police in the town square. In an effort to find the latest victim, Tim runs back to the store in search of her video, only to discover the gruesome footage taken on the floor. This segment is by far the most upsetting. Children in peril is always a bold choice, and Perry goes there.
Home Haunt” is our only filmmaking double team. Micheline Pitt and R.H. Norman recount a crumbling father-son relationship. Keith and Zack used to connect over their annual, elaborate haunted house builds, but time and cruel kids kill the Halloween spirit for Zack. Desperate for a dazzling theme, Keith swipes a record from a local oddities shop. The house takes on a life of its own, and mayhem and blood are real this time. This fast-paced, coordinated chaos is genre magnificence. Zack acts as videographer, capturing every wild kill as he, his parents, and neighbors wander from room to room. Home Haunt is nonstop, devilish delight.
NIGHT OF THE REAPER
Opening credits are fantastic. The production design team covers homes with classic ’80s Halloween decorations, and the repeated VHS static filter is chef’s kiss. Every single slasher trope we’ve come to love is utilized to build that creeping sense of dread. The synth score is fantastic. Homages to franchise favorites are endless. Everything from Poltergeist to Halloween, Max’s outfit looks like it’s straight out of Pet Sematery or a nod to Chucky, and the “Kimble, R” buzzer might just be a reference to Australian director Kimble Rendall. 
Casting is delicious. Ben Cockell is outstanding as Chad. Summer H. Howell (
Brandon Christensen, alongside his co-writer brother Ryan, understands how to build suspense while giving horror fans the kills they seek. As a fan of SUPERHOST, I am impressed by this narrative shift again and again. Christensen nails the element of surprise, flipping the script on their head when you least expect it. NIGHT OF THE REAPER is another solid addition to Shudder’s stacked catalog.
DANGEROUS ANIMALS
Josh Heuston is Moses. Relentlessly charming and earnest, Moses tries his damnedest to find Zephyr, but his fate may be closer to any of the boy toys in the SCREAM franchise. Heuston is much more than a vapid heartthrob. He is an admirable scene partner, and you want more of him. 
Hassie Harrison is a childhood trauma-fueled badass. Harrison commands your attention and takes risks. She could carry any film. She is Final Girl heaven. 
THE RULE OF JENNY PEN
After suffering a stroke, Stefan must convalesce in an assisted living facility that also houses a psychotic patient who tortures the residents with a creepy hand puppet. Based on Owen Marshall‘s short story, James Ashcroft brings THE RULE OF JENNY PEN to life in all its skin-crawling glory. 
I’m not just saying all these nice things because the film happens to feature two of my favorite genre people (and internet friends), Emily Bennett and Toby Poser. Wisner and Temple earn each moment.
Emily plays Ruth with a fearful innocence and tenacity. Bennett has that inarguable “it” factor in transforming for each new role. From 
For more short film reviews, 
The production design by Lauren Kelly delivers visuals that are startling and sneaky. Creepy art pieces, like the anatomical drawing behind Ted’s desk to the Rorschach paintings, hung in the house subconsciously keep you off kilter. Darcy’s shop even houses director Damian McCarthy‘s disquieting rabbit from his 2020 terrifier CAVEAT.
FANTASIA 2024
A road trip through Canadian oil fields conjured up fantasies of secrets deep in the dirt for the Adams family, and inspired them to create HELL HOLE, an indie rock-n-roll monster movie set at a far-away fracking site. Known for their DIY ethos, John and Lulu Adams and Toby Poser, partnering with Shudder, have joined the team behind The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs and FX legend Todd Masters to shoot their latest in Serbia with a local cast and crew. Absurd, mutinous, and transgressively comical, Hell Hole is old-school sci-fi horror, yet in typical family fashion, they subvert the genre with textures of biological and environmental horror in tandem with questions of gender and bodily autonomy. This will be the fourth time Fantasia World Premieres work from the gifted filmmaking family, following launches of 
After the success of 
Peter Vack (ASSHOLES) and Dasha Nekrasova (THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST) star as couple on the rocks during the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic in American filmmaker Eugene Kotlyarenko (
It’s been 21 long years since Scooter McCrae (SHATTER DEAD) released a new feature, and he’s lost none of his smart, transgressive bite. Desperate for work, Derek (Damian Maffei, THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT) accepts a job at a shady tech start-up, working intimately with Susan (Yvonne Emilie Thälker in a powerful debut role), a bleeding-edge BDSM sex doll meant to receive and appreciate sexual punishment as an integral part of her evolving AI. Shot on Super 16, BLACK EYED SUSAN counterbalances its dark, vulgar core with a surprisingly tender vulnerability, creating a lo-fi science-fiction landscape infused with surprising fragility, as legendary Italian composer Fabio Frizzi (THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE) lends the picture a lush, atmospheric backdrop. Not for the faint of heart, BLACK EYED SUSAN delves into themes and questions that will only become more pertinent with the continued evolution of artificial intelligence. World Premiere.
A true DIY passion project from Estonian filmmaker Sander Maran, CHAINSAWS WERE SINGING is a zany, blood-soaked musical about lovers split up by a chainsaw-wielding killer. Over a decade in the making, Saran not only directed but wrote, scored, shot, and edited this colorful murder-fest that’s part gory horror movie and part ridiculous musical. The camerawork is inventive, the editing slapstick, and the tone truly absurdist. Most importantly, though, the songs are incredibly catchy, with Sander clearly deeply indebted to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL and Frank Oz’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Underground Section. International Premiere.
The stunning sophomore feature from award-winning director Carlota Pereda (
My favorite shorts collection of the year, this wildly eclectic and insanely talented group of female filmmakers aims to please, shock, and gag audiences. You never know what you’ll get with each passing year and I get giddy in anticipation. Fantasia 2024’s Born Of Woman lineup includes the following films:
THE BLEACHER
WILDFLOWER
DEAD TOOTH
Goodnight Mommy filmmakers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz‘s latest film, The Devil’s Bath, opens with a 
SYNOPSIS – In 1750 Austria, a deeply religious woman named Agnes has just married her beloved, but her mind and heart soon grow heavy as her life becomes a long list of chores and expectations. Day after day, she is increasingly trapped in a murky and lonely path leading to evil thoughts, until the possibility of committing a shocking act of violence seems like the only way out of her inner prison. Giving a voice to the invisible and unheard women of the rural past; THE DEVIL’S BATH is based on historical court records about a shocking, hitherto unexplored chapter of European history.
VERONICA FRANZ (Writer & Director) studied German and philosophy and worked as a journalist. She has also worked as an artistic collab-orator with Ulrich Seidl since 1997 and co-wrote the screenplays for all of his films including DOG DAYS (2001), IMPORT EXPORT (2007), the PARADISE trilogy (2012/13) and WICKED GAMES – RIMINI SPARTA (2023). In 2003 she also founded the Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion GmbH with him.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is, to no one’s surprise, spectacular. My introduction to his work began with Game of Thrones. Even thirty years ago, he possessed a magnetic presence on screen. 
NIGHTWATCH taps into classic fears and creates authentic dread from beginning to end. A premise stemming from toxic masculinity gets a perfect foil in its horror element. Bornedal’s dialogue is particularly meta, no doubt inducing a smirk from the audience more than once. 
The film is a genre-bender. When you think you know what’s happening, the plot twists again. Bornedal’s sequel, 30 years in the making, has a lot to live up to. The Shudder Original 
The film starts with a bang. Bravo to Casper Kjær Jensen for one hell of a performance. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau returns as Martin. We now know he and Kalinka married and had a daughter named Emma. After Kalinka’s suicide, Martin is distraught. Emma discovers the newspaper clippings about her parents’ traumatic ordeal. Seeking answers, she takes her father’s old job on night watch. 
Kim Bodnia is the same thoughtless jackass settling right back into the role of Jens. The character’s development feels darker and more insensitive than before, but Bodnia’s chemistry with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is still dazzling. 
Ole Bornedal makes the sequel a true family affair. His daughter, Fanny Bornedal, plays Emma. She is a pro. Ole gives her characteristics of Martin and Kalinka. Emma is a bold, bright, and fearless medical forensics student. Fanny commands each frame. She’s a star. 
DIRECTED BY CAITLIN CRONENBERG
In Caitlin Cronenberg‘s HUMANE, 
Alanna Bale is an aspiring actress and the youngest family member, Ashley. Her selfishness and loose lips cause nothing but chaos. Sebastian Chacon plays Noah York, adopted son, recovering alcoholic, and piano prodigy. Chacon is sensational, bringing a humanity that stands out among the ensemble cast.
Emily Hampshire, whose film cred has exploded since the Schitt’s Creek finale, is the eldest York daughter, Rachel. She is abrasive, unfiltered, and fearless. Hampshire owns every moment of screen time. 
The set is stunning, a stone mansion with deep jewel-toned walls and carved mahogany. The use of solar-lined umbrellas in the brief periods exposed to the sun and the implementation of solar film on the windows make a massive impact. The characters each comment on the ingredients their stepmother has procured, suggesting the food chain has affected every socioeconomic corner. It is all very carefully curated, and undeniably brilliant. 
The first official appearance of our titular character is startling. Anne Müller‘s is dazzling. Her jarring physical performance makes BAGHEAD relentlessly unsettling.
Freya Allan plays Iris with equal parts frailty and fearlessness. You cannot take your eyes off her. Someone, please write a film featuring her as a young version of Juliette Lewis because the resemblance is uncanny. Take my money now.
Summoning Sylvia
Everything from the lighting, the lens, costumes, set design, the score, hair and makeup, and the jokes nail the era. Along with the live tape, black and white behind-the-scenes footage shows us what the at-home audience missed. 
David Dastmalchian owns every frame as Jack Delroy. A delicious mix of genuine and fame-hungry, his effortless performance is mesmerizing. He has the audience in the palm of his hand. You cannot take your eyes off of him. 
Folk horror goes hard in this tale of possession and superstition. Writer-director Demian Rugna‘s WHEN EVIL LURKS pits fear and skepticism against an unrelenting demonic force. That’s only the beginning. 
The script reveals itself in bits and pieces, with the plot having ties to some apocalyptic lore affecting entire towns. We learn of a set of rules that are cannon to this happening from generations preceding our main characters. Take David Robert Mitchell’s IT FOLLOWS, add a page out of Stephen King‘s IT, and you’ll begin to understand what you’re dealing with. Somehow, WHEN EVIL LURKS is nastier and even more shocking. The script also suggests that cities were targets first, but there is also an implication that class is somehow involved. There are also what amounts to slayers, a select group of people who confront the evil known as “Cleaners.” There is so much meat on the bone in this script that despite the urge to hide your eyes, it compels you to watch it unfold.
One standout performance comes from Emilio Vodanovich as Jari, Pedro’s autistic son. As a mother of a child on the spectrum, I genuinely believed they had cast an actor with autism. It is a startling performance. Demian Soloman gives Jimi an authentic heart. A lot is going on behind those eyes. Ezequiel Rodríguez has your heart in your throat from beginning to end. His portrayal of Pedro runs the emotional gambit. He nails it. Rugna gives Jimi and Pedro enough depth and trauma that Soloman and Rodríguez could pull off a sequel in a heartbeat. 
Pablo Fuu‘s music is brilliantly disturbing, particularly in the repeated hard rock guitar riff. Holy Special FX, Batman! WHEN EVIL LURKS pulls no punches with the visual ick. Marcos Berta‘s work is gag-inducing and diabolical. It makes you angry and nauseous. The dialogue is often vile and biting but entirely hypnotizing as you discover more. The brutality grows from one scene to the next. WHEN EVIL LURKS is easily one of the most deranged films of the year. Rugna has broken all the rules. There is no coming back from this one.
We have been lucky enough to have seen a few of the titles already making the rounds. You can catch our reviews for the following films:
Paiffe
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