In this “happily ever after” tale gracing the main competition at Berlinale, the terrifying is humorous and the humorous is terrifying. Bergholm will send philosophical shivers down your spine and lead you down a folk horror path into paganism, motherhood, myths about trolls, and the anatomy of a marriage.

Saga moves to her ancestral home in the Finnish woodland to provide an idyllic setting for her newborn. She seems to be living her dream life among pine trees with her husband Jon, but their longings soon shift genre. Pregnancy, husband’s absence, bodily changes, and a dark forest that safeguards secrets and appears to have its own blood-call and intentions. As the baby arrives, Saga senses that something is wrong: her psychological space warps, and she may have brought into the world something not quite human. But maybe Saga has forgotten who she is herself?

In her debut feature Hatching (2022), screened at RIGA IFF, Finnish director Bergholm focussed on family and an egg safeguarding a secret. Deftly trolling, with a wink at Rosemary’s Baby (1968), in her latest piece it is not only modern gadgets and a lawn mower that become terrifying, but also every sound heard by the lead performers – Finnish actress Seidi Haarla (series Estonia (2023)) and British actor Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter franchise). The stunning score and soundscape is the work of Eicca Toppinen, the founder of Apocalyptica.