Ilja Rautsi

Body horror with a razor-sharp bite is Ilja Rautsi's signature dish. The Finnish writer took Sundance by storm when he penned Hatching, a wonderfully twisted creature feature that turned perfectionist family dynamics into an unforgettable nightmare. Let's be honest: nobody else is writing suburban dread quite like this.

Before unleashing giant mutant birds on the world, he cut his teeth as a film critic and made festival waves with outrageously titled horror-comedy shorts. He takes everyday social anxieties, cranks the dial to eleven, and dresses them up in brilliant practical monster effects. Nordic cinema's genre scene is a lot weirder and more fun with him in it.