In HATCHING, 12-year-old gymnast, Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), is desperate to please her image-obsessed mother, whose popular blog ‘Lovely Everyday Life’ presents their family’s idyllic existence as manicured suburban perfection. One day, after finding a wounded bird in the woods, Tinja brings its strange egg home, nestles it in her bed, and nurtures it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare, plunging Tinja beneath the impeccable veneer into a twisted reality that her mother refuses to see.

For in-depth thoughts on Hatching, please see my colleague Michael Cook’s review from its Sundance Film Festival debut here.

Video Quality

Hatching debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original aspect ratio that works extremely well. The transfer allows for a striking amount of detail and clarity which captures the most grotesque facets of Alli. The practical effects are much appreciated and hold up perfectly under the scrutiny of high definition. The movie has a natural palette that really pops off the screen, especially when the characters are surrounded by foliage. There are bright colors within certain costumes and in the production design that are a sight to behold. The movie often takes place in darkness or shadow, and thankfully the black levels hold together without issue. Objects retain their distinct detail in these instances and maintain their depth with banding hardly ever showing up. No damage or digital noise could be found on this disc. IFC Films and RLJE have knocked it out of the park here.

Audio Quality

The film comes to Blu-Ray with an immersive DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the original Finnish with optional English subtitles that executes the sound design perfectly. The movie is very impactful when it comes to environmental sounds that make you a bit uneasy as they pan around the room. Surround channels create a very distinct sense of spatial awareness with sounds emanating from all of their intended points. Dialogue and sound effects are balanced well with the music where nothing loses clarity. The low end makes quite a difference in a handful of moments with terrific texture that adds to the atmosphere. This track executes everything it needs to do perfectly. There is also an English dub provided in DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio which we would recommend staying away from for artistic integrity.

Special Features

Making Of Alli The Puppet: A six-minute featurette in which director Hanna Bergholm discusses how she found the “best animatronic maker in the world” before Creature FX Supervisor Gustav Hoegen discusses the intricacies of bringing this creature to life, the team of people who work together on Alli, the specific movements and much more.

Making Of SFX Make-Up: Another six-minute featurette which this time takes a look at the prosthetic work with insights from SFX Make-Up Supervisor Conor O’Sullivan about getting a proper mold, the evolution of the design and more.

Interview with Hanna Bergholm – Director/Writer: A six-minute featurette in which Bergholm discusses the origins of the project, her desire to make the lead character a girl, the themes she wanted to tackle in this story, the aesthetic she wanted to convey, finding the performers and more.

Interview with Ilja Rautsi – Writer: A three-minute piece with Rautsi in which he touches on some of the questions posed in the film, the facets of the main character, the other characteristics of the ensemble and more.

Interview with Reino Nordin – Tero: A two-minute conversation with Nordin in which he discusses being approached with the project, the personality of his character, working with the young lead and more.

Interview with Sophia Heikkila – Mother: A nearly three-minute interview with Heikkila in which she discusses the background of her character, the difficulties she had with being so cruel, working within the horror genre and more.

Final Thoughts

Hatching is a terrifically engaging creature feature/body horror film that evolves in very thematically satisfying ways. Many of the characters are intentionally obnoxious, but you can understand the burden that the young protagonist has put on herself as your heart breaks for her. The special effects work is really terrific as the creative team tries to accomplish as much practically as possible. With a pace that never feels sluggish, this feature stands as one of the more impressive horror films of the year. IFC Films and RLJE Entertainment have released a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and a decent array of special features. If you are not too squeamish, this one is worth checking out. Recommended

Hatching will be available to purchase on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on November 22, 2022.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.