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The dream of motherhood turns into a nightmare in Mother’s Baby, the new film from Austrian director Johanna Moder (High Performance, Once Were Rebels, TV series School of Champions) that is world premiering in the competition program of the 75th Berlin Film Festival on Feb. 18.

40-year-old Julia (Marie Leuenberger) is a successful conductor and has a loving partner (Hans Löw). So what could she be missing for complete happiness? Well, the couple is longing for a child. Luckily, a fertility doctor (Claes Bang) offers them hope and treatment. Unfortunately, though, the birth does not go as planned, and the baby is taken away, leaving Julia in the dark about what has happened. When reunited with the child, she feels strangely distant. And she begins to doubt whether this is really her baby.

From there, the co-production between Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, which was co-written by Moder and Arne Kohlweyer, takes...

Stars: Chuku Modu, Luna Mwezi, Iola Evans, Kit Young, Arno Lüning, Safia Oakley-Green | Written by Ruth Greenberg | Directed by Andrew Cumming

I can almost imagine Out of Darkness’ director Andrew Cumming pitching the film to potential backers as Quest for Fire meets Predator. And that would be a fairly accurate description of this Stone Age thriller about a tribe of early humans being picked off by an unseen foe. And one that makes it sound a lot less cerebral and more commercial than it might otherwise appear.

45,000 years ago, six early humans have left their tribe to find a new home. Leading the group is Adem, who also has his young son Heron and Ave who’s carrying Adem’s child along with him. Also making the trek are Geirr, Adem’s more cautious second-in-command and Odal’s who seems to be some kind of shaman and last, and certainly least,...