Shudder’s ‘Nightborn’ Trailer Teases a Twisted Creature Horror from ‘Hatching’ Director

Nightborn is bringing a terrifying new nightmare to the world of motherhood.

The first trailer for the upcoming Shudder horror film from Hanna Bergholm, director of the acclaimed creature feature Hatching, teases a dark fairy tale where a mother’s worst fears about her newborn child may be horrifyingly real.

Nightborn will make its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22 before arriving on Shudder on July 31.

The unsettling trailer hints at a bloody and violent journey into motherhood, as a family’s dream of a perfect life begins to collapse under the weight of a terrifying secret.

In Nightborn, Saga and her British husband Jon move into the isolated Finnish forest home where Saga spent much of her childhood, hoping to build the perfect family. But after the birth of their child, Saga becomes convinced something is deeply wrong with her newborn son — despite everyone around her insisting otherwise.

As the couple’s relationship begins to fracture, Jon struggles to understand his wife’s fears, while Saga alone suspects the horrifying truth about the child she has brought into the world.

The film stars Seidi Haarla (Compartment No. 6) and Rupert Grint (Knock at the Cabin, Servant) in what Shudder describes as “a visceral, gripping and terrifying dark fable about motherhood and unconditional maternal love.”

The cast also includes Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey, and John Thomson.

Shudder’s Emily Gotto praised Bergholm’s follow-up to Hatching, calling Nightborn an intense exploration of parenthood and self-discovery filled with tension, shocking moments, and even flashes of dark humor.

The film will also dive into Nordic folklore, particularly the mythology of trolls said to inhabit the forests of ancient Finland.

“In Nordic countries, there’s a long-standing mythology of trolls living in the forests,” Bergholm explained. “In ancient times, people truly believed that trolls inhabited the woods and had a kind of control over nature.”

The filmmaker added that the forest in Nightborn reflects Saga’s emotions and the primal, animalistic side of humanity.

With its eerie folklore influences and disturbing take on motherhood, Nightborn looks ready to deliver one of Shudder’s strangest horror experiences of the year.