Instead of merely being a typical creature feature with dazzling practical effects, Bergholm turns her horror into a collection of coming-of-age traumas, piercing metaphors, and psychological ambiguity.

| Jan 12, 2025

Meticulously polished and stylish, “Hatching” may garner a cult following for its fanciful grotesqueness even though it seems to be as perplexed about what it wants to be as its central character.

| Oct 31, 2023

Hatching is a manifestation of the pressures of perfection and the burdens parents place on their children. It’s angry, girlish rage personified in a truly terrifying bird creature.

| Aug 6, 2023

Hatching is a disturbing, coming-of-age body horror that has an obvious yet engaging story-line, terrific performances and gorgeous visuals.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 24, 2023

... A story that works best as a psychological thriller than as a traditional horror film with jump scares. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 12, 2023

Hatching takes full flight when it emancipates itself from its influences. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 11, 2023

For my money, Bergholm’s commitment to — in her own words — “powerful stories about female emotions” — yields handsome dividends.

| May 9, 2023

With its oppressive and sinister atmosphere, Hatching will satisfy fans of grotesque and unbridled horror, such as Cronenberg's, with dark social criticism spawning from the best body horror. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 7/10 | May 9, 2023

While the horror aspects are a nice touch to keep audiences interested in blood happy, HATCHING's true success is its authentic depiction of the sort of childhood trauma too many laugh off as growing pains instead of a destruction of innocence.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 3, 2023

With its surprising ending, Hatching demonstrates that the titular act of self-creation can be painful and destructive, but it is well worth the struggle to escape someone else’s idea of perfection.

| Dec 17, 2022

A dark fairy tale, it works as a perverse coming-of-age that focuses on the expectations women face as they grow into adulthood. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 11, 2022

Hanna Bergholm’s directorial debut plays like a coming-of-age fairy tale - one that explores a number of potent underlying themes but with a nasty edge.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 28, 2022

Blackly comical touches combine with underlying emotions to pull the audience in, as director Hanna Bergholm draws out important themes and thoroughly freaks out the audience.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 21, 2022

Thought-provoking, powerful and visceral - this film is a must-see.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 19, 2022

So what if the psychological subtext is shoved to the fore and shouted loud? Hatching delivers as a straightforward horror as well, in that it’s deliciously repulsive behind the antiseptic facade.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 18, 2022

Boasting alarmingly effective creature designs and strong performances, Hatching is resoundingly unique but familiar at the same. It’s deep, imaginative, and it’s very, very good.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 17, 2022

Bergholm's debut feature showcases the perils of perfection.

| Sep 14, 2022

Finds great middle ground between heavy metaphor and practical monster fun.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 14, 2022

An elegantly horrible coming-of-age.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 14, 2022

A peculiar and thoughtful tale of adolescence within the social media age, Hatching is a fantastically strange debut from Bergholm which is sure to catch the eye of cult audiences.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 14, 2022