Interview: Writer/director Hanna Bergholm on her new film Nightborn

Like her first film, Hatching, writer/director Hanna Bergholm’s Nightborn takes an unapologetic look at motherhood. The movie stars Rupert Grint as Jon, husband to Seidi Haarla’s character Saga, who’s convinced something is wrong with their child after it’s born with excessive hair, constantly cries and growls, and will only eat raw meat. Meanwhile, everyone, including Saga’s overbearing mother (Pirkko Saiso), act like they know what’s best for her.

Haarla especially gives a knockout performance, one of the best in any horror film so far this year, while Grint offers a memorable performance as well. Additionally, the film incorporates elements of folk horror as the forest constantly speaks to the child and in turn, Saga, and perhaps houses creatures.

We recently spoke with Bergholm about the film, following its screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival, where the jury awarded it two Cheval Noir Awards for Best Film and Outstanding Performance (Haarla).

This interview was slightly edited for clarity.

The Horror Lounge: In both Hatching and Nightborn, motherhood is such a central theme. Can you talk about how that concept has influenced your work so far?

Hanna Bergholm: I think this kind of mother and child relationship is very interesting. You can take several stories from it because it’s the first relationship we have and a profound relationship. Hatching was told from the child’s point of view, and you can say the mother is kind of a villain in that film. With Nightborn, I wanted to tell the mother’s point of view, so that’s where it started from.

Seidi Haarla as Saga - Courtesy of Shudder

The Horror Lounge: Seidi Haarla, as Saga, undergoes quite an arc in Nightborn. Can you talk about her arc and also comment on your experience working with her?

Hanna Bergholm: I was so happy to have her in this film. She’s so good at portraying sensitivity and strength at the same time. I felt like she understood the role so well. When she first read the script, she told me thank you for being seen and heard. She also felt like these emotions are relatable, not that the character is her, but that she could relate to Saga’s emotions.

When Rupert Grint came on board, we had about ten days of rehearsals in Finland. We had a wonderful dance choreographer who choregraphed a dance for the film. Both of the actors had to get physical in the roles and get close to each other. I wanted to have this kind of physicality.

The Horror Lounge: Rupert Grint’s Jon also undergoes quite a character arc. What was it like working with him?

Hanna Bergholm: First of all, working with him was really a joy. He’s so professional and so nice and polite. It was fun to work with him. His character, Jon, is a person, from his point of view, who feels like his wife is having a very hard time and maybe losing her mind. He’s just trying to keep up the normality of the family while trying to help her. I don’t think he does anything wrong but tries his best to support his wife.

From Saga’s point of view, whatever nice and supportive things that her husband is going to do always comes out somehow in the wrong way. You might say that all of the characters mean well. Every time someone is speaking, they are kind of right in what they’re saying, but they misunderstand each other and insult each other, which sometimes happens in life.

Rupert Grint as Jon- Courtesey of Shudder

The Horror Lounge: To that point, Saga’s mother tells her to focus on her own well-being and don’t just focus on the child and motherhood. Can you address that relationship, too?

Hanna Bergholm: Saga’s mother is the grandmother for the child, and you might think that everything she says sounds rude. I think she’s right in what she’s saying, but maybe Saga, her daughter, wants her to be softer and more maternal in a traditional sense. I also wanted to portray the taboos of being a grandmother. As a grandmother, you’re supposed to be soft and loving towards your grandchild, but what if you’re not? This film is very much about how to accept other people when they’re not what you hoped they'd be.

The Horror Lounge: Can you address some of the film's folk horror elements and the role of nature?

Hanna Bergholm: I wanted to use some of the old Finnish folklore about creatures waiting in the forest, which were kind of old wisdom about us being part of the forest but a warning about not getting lost in the forest because there could be something scary in there.

Because this story is about a couple facing something unknown, I wanted to use this old mythology about scary creatures living in a forest.

There’s a house in the middle of the forest. The actual house is a façade that we built for the film. I wanted this film to have a style of its own, so it’s not a particular architectural era. That’s why we built the house. You might think the house resembles Saga and Jon’s relationship, how they try to fix it, but it just keeps on rotting. Saga really decorated the nursery as the ideal time she’d have with her child, complete with a beautiful looking rocking horse and porcelain dolls. I don’t even know how a baby can play with porcelain dolls. [Laughs]. It was so perfect and so beautiful that it wouldn’t even be possible to play there.

The Horror Lounge: What’s next for you?

Hanna Bergholm: At the moment, I’m working with the same writer, IIja Rautsi, who I co-wrote this film with as well. We’re writing a new thriller TV series. I’m also planning a new feature.

Nightborn is currently available to stream on Shudder.