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

An elegantly horrible coming-of-age.

Bergholm isn’t exactly subtle about doling out the metaphors, but “Hatching” sustains a fugue state of empathy and unease that puts it within shouting distance of David Lynch, and Solalinna is impressive in the lead...

The themes throughout are vague enough to be interesting, but explicit enough to draw some connections. Toxic relationships, narcissism, puberty, eating disorders, and hidden lives are all themes that are explored pretty adeptly in a tight 1:27 runtime.