THR is reporting that Shudder has acquired North American, Australian and New Zealand rights to Nightborn, the new horror feature from Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm, director of 2022's breakout debut, Hatching. Their sophomore feature film stars Seidi Haarla (Compartment No. 6, Icebreaker) and Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter series, Servant).
With dreams of starting a perfect family, Saga and her British husband Jon move to the isolated house where she spent much of her childhood, deep in the Finnish forest. As soon as their baby is born, despite the reassurance of all around her, Saga knows there’s something terribly wrong with her son. Their marriage begins to crack and Jon struggles to support his wife, but only Saga suspects the terrible truth about her newborn. - Fantasia
Nightborn premiered in Berlin and will have its North American premiere at Fantasia on July 22nd before debuting on Shudder on July 31st. ScreenAnarchy will be at Fantasia all festival long. Look forward to a review from us then.
Here is Shudder's official announcement.
SHUDDER TAKES“NIGHTBORN”DIRECTOR HANNA BERGHOLM’S FOLLOW UPTO HORROR HIT “HATCHING”A Visceral Dark Fable Starring SEIDI HARLA and RUPERT GRINTStreaming on Shudder JULY 31STShudder announced today that it is acquiring the rights to NIGHTBORN, Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm’s follow up to her debut horror hit HATCHING. NIGHTBORN explores the complex emotions and experiences of parenthood through a visceral and terrifying dark fable of unconditional maternal love, from a screenplay written by Berholm and Ilja Rautsi. Rights include The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The film debuted in competition at Berlinale, and will celebrate its North American Premiere at Fantasia Festival on July 22nd before its Shudder release on July 31st.The film stars Seidi Haarla (Compartment Number 6) and Rupert Grint (Harry Potter, Servant, Knock at the Cabin) alongside Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey and John Thomson. The film is produced by Daniel Kuitunen from Elokuvayhtiö Komeetta Oy. Co-producers include Getaway Films from France, BlueLight from the UK, and Filmai from Lithuania. Executive producers are Nick Shumaker and David Levine of Anonymous Content. Animatronics Designer, Gustav Hoegen (Star Wars: Episodes VI, VII, & IX, Andor, Jurassic World, Prometheus) and two-time Academy Award nominee, SFX Makeup Designer, Conor O’Sullivan (Saving Private Ryan, The Hours, X Men: First Class, The Dark Knight, Game of Thrones) bring the story to life with visceral imagery and skill.NIGHTBORN follows Saga and her British husband Jon, who move to an isolated house deep in the forest with dreams of starting a perfect family. 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 disturbing truth about her newborn.”I am really excited for our film to be released on Shudder! NIGHTBORN is a film made for genre enthusiasts, parents and anyone who has ever asked themselves: Why do I feel different?” said filmmaker Hanna Bergholm.“Hanna Bergholm’s audacious sophomore follow up to HATCHING delivers tension and shocking moments surrounding parenthood and self discovery - with a touch of humor. We are thrilled to share NIGHTBORN with audiences.” said Emily Gotto, SVP of Shudder Acquisitions and Production.The deal for the film was negotiated by Emily Gotto, SVP of Shudder Acquisitions and Production with Goodfellas on behalf of the filmmakers.